"Sent to Beehive staff from the Prime Ministers Office, it told ministers not to give interviews about the thousands of pages of official papers, minutes and advice proactively released Friday afternoon. The documents dealt with the government’s response to the virus and the email basically told the government team they’ve been managing so well and have so much pubic support, they didn’t need to answer questions about what was in the papers."
"There's no real need to defend. Because the public have confidence in what has been achieved and what the Govt is doing," the email said. "Instead we can dismiss”.
"Now it’s run of the mill to suggest certain lines for ministers to run, as the email did. But to simply shut down all the cabinet ministers who are meant to be part of the team running the country during a crisis suggests people around the prime minister who are getting a little too comfortable with the extraordinary – but temporary – power currently invested in them."
"It’s dumb on a range of levels. Morally – or perhaps constitutionally – the New Zealand public has allowed this government at this time extraordinary powers and deserves at the very least in return full and frank information from cabinet. They deserve respect for the sacrifices made, not dismissal. To tell political staff to “dismiss” the questions of journalists working to keep that public informed is deeply cynical and defensive. It’s bad enough in the normal sweep of events; in these troubled times it’s shameful."
Well-reasoned, and I found nothing to dispute. But here's the thing: look at how he is directing readers (implicitly) to blame the PM's advisers. Guess who made the actual decision to issue the gag! I get that Tim is motivated to defend Labour's brand. Fair enough – but ain't it just a tad disingenuous to tiptoe around the PM like that?
Health Minister David Clark has rejected claims he and other Government ministers have been “gagged”, as he fronted today to announce a $160 million boost to Pharmac health spending.
“Clark rejected today an assertion he had been gagged – or that the memo was a sign of arrogance, as several political commentators have written. “Obviously I am here.”
He said he had not personally received the memo, but saw it after it became a story. He did not believe the Government was arrogant.
““I am here, happy to answer questions that journalists might have. This is the advice we have received. We have looked at that advice and then made decisions.”
Seems he heard about the gag the same way every one else did , suggest its was advice passed around the media advisors not a PM 'directive'
So the the Great Gag beatup falls flat on its face at the first hurdle . The health minister is happy to ask questions.Clearly its the pre budget talk fest so many Ministers will be available to the journos, pushing their portfolios but happy to talk . https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12330811
I am here, happy to answer questions that journalists might have
....dont you understand . It was advice. And it didnt tell ministers anything , it was for media personal.
Your tone suggests you are doing a beatup of your own
"The email from Rob Carr, a senior ministerial adviser to the prime minister, was sent to the staff of Government ministers and to staff at the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC) who had worked on making public the documents. " Stuff
So you're suggesting that Tim Watkin & Duncan Garner, etc, got it wrong? The PM's senior adviser does not actually speak for the PM? Still looks like wrong planet.
"The prime minister's office now says the email — which was provided to press gallery journalists hours after the Government publicly released hundreds of Cabinet papers — was a "clumsy instruction"."
I wonder if that opinion comes from a different staffer (anonymous). Obfuscation must be an exciting game for them. 🙄
Now I know you will want to argue that his hubris invites nemesis thesis is so hi-falutin' that it'll sail clean over the heads of folks here, and perhaps even that words ending in is ought to be illegal…
Yeah I know that. But the final paragraph of the primary comment seems to suggest the PM herself is somehow responsible. Rather than a clumsy staffer in the PMO.
There was a discussion on that just now on the AM Show. Garner thought it had come from the PM & Trotter not. Starting to look like a staffer may have lost the plot & issued instructions without the PM's authorisation. If a Trump staffer did that, they'd get fired. Gone by lunchtime. Will be interesting to see how Ardern handles the insubordination.
If that's what it actually was. We await the facts still. The duke thinks the health minister is telling us the facts. Probably the only person in the entire country who would trust the health minister to do that…
Probably the only person in the entire country who would trust the health minister to do that…
Tinfoil hat. Take it off your head. Not everything is a government conspiracy orchestrated by that machiavellian schemer, Jacinda Ardern. I know the right are desperately flailing about trying to find a club to bludgeon her with because Bridges couldn't score a hit if you gave him a cannon and a satellite targeting system, but let's not go overboard.
Conspiracy? I didn't suggest any such thing! Nor am I a rightist. Try to get your head around what actually happened, huh? Did she instruct her ministers not to comment or not? The impression created by the email from her senior advisor makes us wonder if he does actually speak for her or not. We await clarification as to the source of the instruction.
We don't know. I don't know. You don't know. But your insinuation couldn't be any clearer. "Jacinda's gagging people! Police State! The fascists are on the march!" Let's all sit down, have a nice cup of tea, breathe, and wait. Getting all bent out of shape over things that likely aren't even true is a sure-fire road to a stomach ulcer. I wouldn't want you to get a stomach ulcer, Dennis.
You're overdramatising. My concern is around damage-mitigation. I'd rather she didn't get a reputation for hypocrisy. That does not concern you? Open, transparent governance, remember! That difference between preaching & practise easily becomes fatal. Voters get shifted by perceptions as much as reality!
Not a lot concerns me. I find being perpetually unconcerned about things is the best way to manage my mental health. (And puts me at low risk of developing a stomach ulcer.) But I understand where you're coming from in terms of not wanting JA to end up looking like a hypocrite. I guess we'll have to wait to discover the truth of the matter. I hope it wasn't an emotional junior staffer.
I'm suggesting that the email would have been authorised by the PM – before it was issued. Anyone who believes the contrary is naive. Does the duke really think Ardern would allow staffers to issue directives to ministers?? If so, wrong planet dude!
If the directive was to comms staff in Minister's offices then yes it would make sense to have come from comms staff in the PM's office (not the DPMC).
This is like one of those media stories that starts out like the worst thing has happened in the history of the world and further down the page it's more than slightly different. By your 3rd post it could be that a staffer in despatching the message has added the offending bit. Rather than the PM be hung drawn and quartered for the message that should happen to the staffer. And I sense, in the event of not despatching the despatcher, to Ardern herself.
True, but the gagging order framing came from Tim Watkin, remember (and others), so I was merely commenting on it as an emerging feature of our co-created reality.
If the PM did not issue or authorise it, the issue will likely become one of employment for the staffer. Remember that damage done to the govt's reputation in the eyes of voters is crucial in an election year. Minimisation is therefore crucial to the PM to increase the likelihood of re-election.
I bet she knows that, so will clarify who was responsible for creating the misapprehension (if she confirms it was that) or inform us that she was actually the source. If she fails to do so, it will be a sign that she is so confident of re-election that the damage done is no problem…
Releasing documents on a Friday and managing your media message is hardly new, if not perfect democracy. This whole media outrage thing is a nonsense, a manufactured media hissy fit from a sidelined MSM that is resenting seeing a popular PM usurp their power.
The difference is when it happened under Key the MSM fell over itself to kiss the governments arse and hold the opposition to account in the hope some well paid sinecures and baubles would fall their way in PR and as advisors.
With a Labour government they have no such hopes so they cling to what privileges they can retain like shit to a blanket.
Give us a break Dennis. there is no "gagging order" simply a normal and pragmatic approach in the face of increasing media misconduct. We are very fortunate that Jacinda has the ability and daring to go over the heads of our dysfunctional media. They are not happy about it but they have brought it upon themselves. What is upsetting the media about this the most is the amount of pushback from general public over their conduct. When they are through the denial/anger phase we just might start to see some improvement.
I get that Tim is motivated to defend Labour's brand.
You get wrong Dennis. I've been reading his pieces for years and he is not a natural Labour man. But I give him credit for trying to be balanced in his views. But he is- along with all the others – wrong in their assumptions over that email.
It was never a blanket ban, and I'm suspicious of all the palaver it is creating. It has the feeling of engineered hysteria encouraged by a band of C/T type operators who are getting concerned by the national and international following Jacinda is receiving.
After years of subterfuge and the manipulation of populations into thinking their ideological opponents are the cause of all society's ills, along comes this bloody woman called Jacinda Ardern who is turning their hard fought battles for personal gain and supremacy upside down.
Agree. Watkin is a centrist, but certainly no partisan. Could be considered liberal or broadly socially democratic, but many of his stances are pragmatic. He is certainly a neutral journo and not enamoured of Labour. He usually follows the hot story in the news.
I’m not sure who the RNZ reporter that did the piece with National Finance Spokesperson Goldsmith on Morning Report just now is, but it was a really odd line of questioning.
Given that National would have had us in Level 2 at least a couple of weeks ago and given that almost everywhere else that has scaled back lockdown measures has had increased rates of infection, you would think that someone in the 4th estate would have the chops to ask the opposition how big an outbreak they’d be prepared to accept to get us to a lower level?
Sweden apparently now will not admit to ICU anyone over 50 with co-morbidities, or just anyone over 80. This is not just aggressive triaging it is venturing into eugenics, of which Sweden has a dark history – https://www.pop.org/sweden-eugenics-world-war-ii/
I think this helps explain Swedish exceptionalism in the face of COVID-19. As a culture, they apparently have a long tradition of deliberately maltreating the weak.
I heard some where that just admitting a patient to ICU pushes the staff needed to care for them 5 fold from their previous ward. They are close to losing control.
However if I was over 80 I wouldnt want be sedated to go on a ventilator either. The death rate is extremely high for the elderly and you may be bed ridden anyway if you survive. Even people in their 30s cant walk across the room unaided until their lungs have fully recovered many weeks later. There is strong evidence that early on people were put on ventilators too soon as the first option.
The decision isn't because of eugenics, it's because the machine that has a 3% chance of saving a life will probably be needed for someone who would have a 10% chance of surviving.
Racism works differently institutionally than outright white supremacists. I don't see why the concept of eugenics can't be understood likewise. It's not that the Swedish govt are Nazis, it's that the political and social decisions being made may be de facto eugenics.
If a society sees disabled (or weak) people as lesser at a cultural level, how would this not affect decisions being made with the various parts of the system about health resource allocation.
Until I see reliable reporting on this issue in Sweden (triaging and the basis of that), I'm theorising. It may be that the people not being admitted to the ICU are still being prioritised with good medical care (i.e. it's an issue of appropriate care). Or it might be that the decision is these people are less likely to survive and we're running out of gear, so we won't treat them (the Italian situation). How society values disabled people generally affects all of that.
I mean NZ doesn't practice eugenics, yet we have entrenched institutional abuse and neglect of disabled people. It's not hard to see how that might play out if we have a major epidemic and the health system wasn't coping.
I suppose the tell would be in the comorbidities they exclude from the triage list. EG they include CF but exclude heart disease as deprioritisation criteria, even though patients at different stages of their condition might have equally poor prognoses. If we could argue one condition is viewed more commonly as a "disability" than the other.
But that's just the analyst in me speculating. If they're just using a standard vulnerable people list, I dunno how one would distinguish an institutional bias from a basic triage guideline.
Fair call, it was a clumsy description poorly aimed at the idea that they were trying to create a society filled with what they saw as "better" people, be it based upon ethnicity or an undesirable tendency to "choose" poverty (or both, or whatever their boggle was).
They weren't about education and learning to play musical instruments, no.
The study or practice of attempting to improve the human gene pool by encouraging the reproduction of people considered to have desirable traits and discouraging or preventing the reproduction of people considered to have undesirable traits.
This sounds like what the Nazis Aryan Race program was based on.
I suppose they were 'improving people too'!Unbelievable.
And another country with a past love of eugenics is.. New Zealand. You can see why disability advocates are keeping a very close eye on where the ideas of the right are veering.
" Interesting motivations to untangle but I'm not hearing that about either abortion or euthanasia, are you? "
While conserving the purity of the population doesn't come up in discussions, especially in mixed company, reforms of either make picking and choosing easier.
Although the point of my reply was the 'left' seem keener than the 'right' for these things.
Abortion reform is just allowing women to access abortions without having to go through hoops. In any case, the amount of abortions in NZ is trending downward long term, thanks to the avalibility of birth control measures.
Ironically it is easier for men to get a vasectomy, which can be done in the primary health sector for under $400 and takes 15min. I dont see anyone calling that 'eugenics'.
Yeah. nah Sacha, the left are as bad as the right in embracing eugenics in this country. For starters a wee look at first labour government and the support for programs like the plunket and the treatment of mental health. Or the earlier Liberal government treatment of returning war veterans. Nor the tacit agreement of both main parties throughout the twentieth century to sterilize disabled women.
And I dear say you'd struggle to find any historian back you up. Google is not going to be your friend either – except for a few loony marxist sites.
I’m clearly not following this. Your link directs to an article on sterilisation written 23 years ago. How is this relevant to admitting sick & elderly to ICU or not due to the COVID-19 pandemic [and where is your link for that?]?
When John Campbell on breakfast news is criticising the government for the email directive to ministers not to talk to the press, then its time for the government to take note. Labour have done a great job of managing the shutdown, but that goodwill can quickly disappear if they take the NZ public for granted.
They may be no different to other parties that have been in charge of the country, but Jacinda did say they would govern differently & be open & transparent. So Labour will be scrambling to play down the email directive. It must have been directed by Jacinda.
Any governments way of talking about what they have released (and sometimes releasing it piecemeal to setup a specific narrative) is also known as spin. In this case they seem to be relying on the outcome for New Zealand speaking for itself. There can't have been much of substance to talk about in this release.
Also the media will quickly tire of the positive narrative. That one doesn't sell the news.
There isnt any gagging according to David Clark, you know the Heath Minister
He said he had not personally received the memo, but saw it after it became a story.
““I am here, happy to answer questions that journalists might have. "
Apparently the traditional Friday hide&seek doesn't come organised by subject and with a table of contents for each. So a definite increase in openness and honesty in that regard.
The American system of governance is totally different to NZ, to compare is like comparing touch rugby to all black test matches.
If you argue they are the same, you simply are an ideologue, who cares what the USA does, our response is ours to measure and to compare it to others is simply spin.
Own what you do and say, don't look to justify by comparison.
It's easier to judge a yacht crew against another yacht crew than just by themselves – you see their decisions, and the different decisions made by other crews at the same time, and what the results were. That helps establish how fair criticism is.
Same with judging the covid response against other countries.
Sure, a perfect result would have no community cases and probably zero deaths. There are things to improve – e.g. testing and contact tracing. But to get an idea of the govt's overall performance, we need to judge them against how other governments reacted, and what their results were.
Yes, we were lucky in many ways. But it's not all luck (otherwise there would be no point in criticising the government at all, as no action wouild change anything).
The govt went into lockdown as soon as it was being transmitted in the community. Comms have been excellent, and the leadership is evident by the nation largely pulling in the same direction.
Many other nations have failed dismally, in a variety of ways, and their mortality rate is evident.
Sorry, but 21 people died because of inaction, other countries sorted it, look at the debacle of the measle epidemic and they now say trust us, no way.
Even assuming every single one of those people caught it in NZ rather than overseas and that the comment is fair by every other impartial measure (rather than expecting perfect judgement during a rapidly evolving situation), that's well near the far end of the queue to hell for pollies whose decisions killed their citizens.
Not just for covid, or internationally – I suspect Roger Douglas would be on the hook for more than 21 dead, for example.
Good find. The conclusion aligns with my broad thesis that in general we should assume that both the conservative and progressive sectors of society want similar outcomes, but weight differing priorities on how to get there. Understanding your 'opponents' value drivers is key to negotiating strategies you can both agree on:
Recent research has shown that both Democrats and Republicans strongly support renewable energy development, but do so for different reasons. Democrats prioritize curbing climate change, while Republicans are more motivated by reducing energy costs. We see these motivations playing out in the real world, where conservative oil-producing states like Texas are experiencing huge booms in renewable energy generation, driven primarily by the improving economics of renewable energy.
Realizing the shared vision of an energy system dominated by renewable energy will mean reconciling partisan differences over how to achieve that future. While there is no single rationale that will convince all Americans to support a transition to low-carbon energy sources, our results are encouraging because we find consensus on the U.S. energy future — everyone agrees that it should be green.
"Plain as day"? What's your evidence? In fact what is your evidence for any of your three assertions? They are just your prejudices.
To me it is "plain as day" that National will not be offering a generalised tax cut. I also presume you specifically mean the 33% rate, which I imagine you think is the only rate of concern to your "certain personalities."
Wayne, it’s as ‘plain as day’ that the Natz cure for the pandemic is – tax cuts, more roads and getting tough on gangs, while their cure for the economic woes is – wash your hands and keep your distance.
On the recovery plan, I have no doubt that National would do a better job than Labour. My evidence is the GFC and the Christchurch earthquake, though I don't imagine you would agree on that.
The PM has shown herself to be brilliant during the covid emergency, just as she has done in the other emergencies faced by this government. However, the overall management of the economy has been nothing to write home about, with a few well publicised failures, including Kiwibuild, and the transport programmes.
The government will need to show a new found ability to deal with the recovery to change that. Maybe they will. The budget being the first test.
labour in Australia did a better job…national prolonged it until 2015 and were relying on the migration surge
Christchurch Earthquakes ? They made sure on both CERR and CERA acts that judicial reviews or appeals were severely limited . Not to save lives as that was long after the events and plenty of time to carefully consider the legislation wording.
It took an earthquake stimulus, a 20% increase in population, a lot of short term overly extractive industry, and a lot of book cooking, to give the illusion of economic competency.
By the right wings favourite measure, economic growth, the effect of National was otherwise negative.
Even after only two years this Government was doing better, by almost all measures than National did, in nine years.
There was a degree of competence in some previous National Governments, though mostly manifested in making asset strippers, financiers and speculators richer. Admittedly also a feature of at least one, Labour Government.
Don’t see any in the current crop. Their main capability seems to be in barking at passing cars.
National did such a sterling job with the Christchurch earthquakes, Gerry Brownlee has a park bench dedicated to him. The plaque on it is somewhat unflattering, but not everyone has their own park bench. I'm sure Gerry's chuffed.
I'm trying to get my head around your rationale of National doing a better job in post Covid times than Labour on the evidence of the GFC and the Christchurch earthquake situations.
Did National do better than Labour in getting things going after GFC and the earthquakes? They should have, since they were in government.
Were they experienced in 'post catastrophe' mode or did they just learn on the job? And do it totally brilliantly? And because of how they did (the they from back then) no-one else would be as good as them in 2020, 2021 no-one else can do it as well?
There are some who think that the National Government of the day deserve a rating of 12 out of 10 for the way they handled the GFC and the Christchurch earthquake situations. They think the chance of the coalition Government deserving as high as 2 out of 10 for handling post Covid things is impossible.
Just how many of the GFC and Christchurch earthquake Ministers from National do you expect to be in Parliament after September this year?
Oh come on. You and I both know that National will impost a raft of huge austerity measures along with a bonfire of regulations if/when they get in. There will be a huge wall of red in to deal with, and as always, your party will send the bill to the poor, sick and retirees, just like Ruth Richardson did back in 1991.
National have in 30 short years, gone from (at best) acceptance that the state (even if has been devolved to community level) needs to do thing, to a whole generation of National MP's and members dedicated to Somalian levels of state sector involvement and regulatory oversight.
Bill English who people have forgotten could and would have easily have been PM during this time, makes his hatred of anything government run well known, even at community level. He even said that water shouldnt be run by councils.
If National were in power we will be at the mercy of the profit run private sector, the middle class prejudices of the church and charity sector and the nepotism of the iwi sector when it comes to accessing social services.
Lol this guy's a bit like our Bob Jones, but a reasonable and contributing member of society:
"If politicians aren't following the evidence, we [scientists] think they are just shitheads, basically," Doherty says, before turning his attention to economists. "Some of them are data-driven but some of them live in a data-free ideological universe."
Aussie Nobel laureate immunologist Peter Doherty. He also thinks a vaccine might be mass-distributed in September, giving a rundown of where a number of projects are at. Which would make the herd immunity crowd close to looking like a bunch of Kodos-es.
Well, I thought a bit of relative optimism from someone at the top of the specific field was interesting and something other than chronically depressing.
And the rest of the interview has some good bits. Such a shame I just reached the paywall read limit.
Paywall ? ..just turn off javascript mostly works for lots of sites, except NZH here
"
But back to the vaccine which could be ready by September: "[The British vaccine] is based on a platform which actually uses a chimp virus, an adenovirus. What you do is you slot a bit of the COVID virus into the adenovirus. They are called virus vectored vaccines.
"It's a genetically engineered virus basically. But essentially, it's the virus itself."
Now for some more bad news. For those over 60, the vaccine may not be a complete fix.
There is also the prophylactic way ,where you can pop a pill ( which is the cheapest option, no need for injections). That is what they did for HIV as they have no vaccine, but isnt spread by sneezes either.
The thing that really gets me about the "elimination if futile" crowd is that buying time is better than just outright surrender. The longer we keep it out, if we can, gives us time to do things better. Things that will save lives when we finally feel the full force of covid.
At worst, delaying it also means that the people whose lives are eventually taken still had weeks or months or years alive that they wouldn't have had if we'd followed the "herd immunity" plan.
Herd immunity is a myth for lots of reasons, I see that some people think it gives them personal immunity, when its a population thats protected from widespread infections. Local clusters will still occur, started in places like schools, workplaces, extended family, social gatherings , funerals etc.
In other words still leaves those 65% who dont have anti bodies ( suggested for Sars-CoV-2, maybe different) still as exposed.
New York may be at 12-15% level of population with anti bodies ( who really knows) , do they want to wait till 35% , does any country ?
New York doesnt really have any good choices left , neither does Sweden, while Greece with a similar population and the opposite Covid response does.
It's just that getting it without a vaccine means a large number of dead people, regardless of the low percentage of deaths. Percentages always sound lower than the number of coffins they represent.
Sharon Zoellner the ANZ chief economist is currently on Nine to Noon. Any guesses how long it takes her to bring up her pet subject of increasing the super age?
I am sick of the bleating from the opposition. Unfortunately there is going to be a lot more bleating after 4 pm today.
From day one the dilemma Covid -19 posed was saving lives or saving the economy. This is so hard to do as social distancing is what saves lives and many businesses cannot social distance.
There is no more normal, people will need to adapt and tough decisions will need to be made.
The economy was going to be in recession, regardless. Despite some delusional claims.
In fact, evidence from past pandemics, and from elsewhere in this one, shows that dealing quickly and effectively with the disease, has better economic outcomes also.
The USA, s tardiness and lack of co-ordination is costing them dearly in lives and the coming recession.
NZ Herald owner NZME has today sought urgent Government help to allow it to buy rival publisher Stuff within three weeks, saying it is the best owner to save newspapers and jobs.
It has filed an urgent Commerce Commission application today for the purchase – for $1 – and wants to have the transaction complete by May 31.
In my view , let Stuff sink . The whole model of a major media octopus is so far out of date …support the smaller operators who are more agile and connected to their readers …ODT, Spinoff, Newsroom etc.
Why pay NZH for things they just syndicate from RNZ, Newsroom, Ny Times , The Conversation when I can go to those places and many others instead of wading through the total dross of NZH, the worst paper in Australasia
Classic ambush tactics. The longer term media industry package being discussed looks like it may not be to their liking. So when we have a really busy government they go "me me me now now now". Funny how the RW seems to have given up funding this media.
Has anyone provided evidence that the memo went to Ministers directly rather than their offices, especially their comms managers? That's who controls messaging, not the Minister.
Seems like a convenient blurring for an opposition to make and media to uncritically regurgitate.
From memory over many years Friday “dumps of information” have been common. Gives the media something to do over the weekend seeing they are so concerned about their employment prospects these days. The general public don’t care which day information is released.
National must take first prize for hypocrisy complaining about this practice.
They are so in a frenzy at the appreciation and respect so many have for Jacinda they are beside themselves like toddlers having a tantrum.
They used to happen on the Friday before a holiday or at the beginning of a recess period. Parliament is sitting tomorrow so apart from this occurring on a Friday it does not apply.
Apart from this one memo , which stuff doesn't even seem to reproduce in full just "interpreted", was there nothing else of interest in those documents? That's it? Just that? Nothing else of substance the media needed to bring to our attention?
If so then it looks like the govt has been pretty transparent on the way through if we are only getting this bit of "gotcha". And then the media wonders why we are not impressed with them or their sense of proportion.
BTW I don't remember similar data dumps about the Canty earthquake response.
Wonderful moving tributes to our PM on Facebook. It was heartening to see not everyone is bitter and twisted as the opposition and many media types.
I have been impressed with the two women journalists who front the 1pm press conference. They are not like the shrieking ones in the theatrette. The PM also is very much in charge, which is how it should be. If she wasn’t for sure they would be then saying she wasn’t up to the job.
I'm not sure if this is what either Johnson or Ardern intended by the metaphor, but any climber will tell you getting down off the damned mountain is by far the riskiest part.
Those right wingers have no ability to innovate do they? Nice to see that you recognise they live in an arid desert where they have no new ideas so they are forced to grab for the communal ideas originated by others? Boris trying to get some reflected glow off Jacinda is he? Going for the "halo" effect?
Not only the mountain analogy but the Covid-19 Levels (5 not 4) appear to have been hijacked as well. Perhaps Boris would like to borrow our PM as well.
He already borrowed "stay faithful to your bubble" (without irony I may add) & the 5 levels reminds me of Spinal Tap ("normal levels go to 4, but ours go to 5!, one extra, coz we better.". Johnson is getting so much shit because no one quite understands wtf he's on about, "stay alert!" instead of "stay at home".
'When Hitler came to power, Germany was hopelessly broke. The Treaty of Versailles had imposed crushing reparations on the German people, demanding that Germans repay every nation’s costs of the war. These costs totaled three times the value of all the property in Germany.
Private currency speculators caused the German mark to plummet, precipitating one of the worst runaway inflations in modern times. A wheelbarrow full of 100 billion-mark banknotes could not buy a loaf of bread. The national treasury was empty. Countless homes and farms were lost to speculators and to private (Jewish controlled) banks. Germans lived in hovels. They were starving.
Nothing like this had ever happened before — the total destruction of the national currency, plus the wiping out of people’s savings and businesses. On top of this came a global depression. Germany had no choice but to succumb to debt slavery under international (mainly Jewish) bankers until 1933, when the National Socialists came to power. At that point the German government thwarted the international banking cartels by issuing its own money. World Jewry responded by declaring a global boycott against Germany.
Hitler began a national credit program by devising a plan of public works that included flood control, repair of public buildings and private residences, and construction of new roads, bridges, canals, and port facilities. All these were paid for with money that no longer came from the private international bankers.
The projected cost of these various programs was fixed at one billion units of the national currency. To pay for this, the German government (not the international bankers) issued bills of exchange, called Labor Treasury Certificates. In this way the National Socialists put millions of people to work, and paid them with Treasury Certificates.
Under the National Socialists, Germany’s money wasn’t backed by gold (which was owned by the international bankers). It was essentially a receipt for labor and materials delivered to the government. Hitler said, “For every mark issued, we required the equivalent of a mark’s worth of work done, or goods produced.” The government paid workers in Certificates. Workers spent those Certificates on other goods and services, thus creating more jobs for more people. In this way the German people climbed out of the crushing debt imposed on them by the international bankers.
Within two years, the unemployment problem had been solved, and Germany was back on its feet. It had a solid, stable currency, with no debt, and no inflation, at a time when millions of people in the United States and other Western countries (controlled by international bankers) were still out of work. Within five years, Germany went from the poorest nation in Europe to the richest.-R.W.Pennington
If you consider it inaccurate ,you should say why as Duker does regarding reparations.
Hard to dispute the facts of depression,inflation and unemployment at that time and the reality that the Germany economy became the strongest in Europe within a few years.
There is nothing anti-Semitic about reality.
[See. I asked you a pretty straightforward question and you dodged because (it seems) you’re happy to promote anti semitic tosh. The historical take on the German economy may be right enough, but to use that as leverage to promote bile is fucked in the head. And since you wanted to keep the identity of the person you quoted shrouded, and are wholly backing what they wrote, I can only assume you’re an anti-semitic fuck head too. I hope you enjoyed your time having access to this site….bye bye.]
There's a lot of antisemitism in that "nationalvanguard" article written by Rosemary Pennington 19 Aug 2015 though. So much that I won't even link to it – people can google that shit. But you'll hopefully end up on a watch list that gets cross-referenced with firearms license holders.
It even appears to be largely plagiarised, such as the final paragraph. Although the "(controlled by international bankers)" was inserted, it comes from a book published five years previously. Many other parts of the quoted work stipulate just who the author thinks owned the banks, of course.
Now I have to delete my browser history for today.
The conditions of depression at the time are relevant to todays situation.
Whether you are a fan of the present financial system or not,no one can deny the reality of money expansion,interest bearing debt and its implications on society.
Your reply is not even related to what was posted.You will always find what you are looking for if you approach a topic with extreme prejudice.
You will end up on the watchlist now too,given you visited the site.
Yeah I will. But I don't think I'll raise too many other flags.
relevance? I was replying to your last line.
You will always find what you are looking for if you approach a topic with extreme prejudice.
QFT.
But also, your source is a plagiarist. The economic bullshit you copypasted I addressed elsewhere. Comment 17.3.1.1 was about the WS~adjacent plagiarist you used as an unlinked source.
In case you are not aware, there was instability in Europe after and even prior to the Wall St Crash and the onset of the Great Depression.
France had occupied parts of Germany to enforce compensation and unemployment was rising.
The geo politics of post war Europe were extremely volatile with the new Communist Russia looking to consolidate its power as well as ongoing Franco/German tensions.
Hitlers rise to power was a direct result of the German ECONOMY being in ruins.
He may or may not have lost the plot, but he's gone McFlock. I was away for most of today and have only just come back to this sub-thread. Seems you had a joyous afternoon reading up on scum.
Well, it's light on antisemitism and actually attributes other people's work, so yes it is "more palatable".
It's still complete bollocks. Without occupying it's neighbours, the Reich's balance of payments and currency issues would have taken it back to depression. It's like saying they maxed out their credit card but it was a brilliant plan because they robbed a bank to make the payments just before the bailiffs came around.
As an establishment droogue who believes in the American Dream, you equate any mention of Hitler with anti Semitism.
The certificates as fiat currency that the Nazis issued are a relevant comparison with what sovereign govts do when they create 'money and spend it back into the local economy.
The only one who has 'lost the plot' is you, because you seem to consider any constructive critique of German economic policy in the 30's as deserving one being put on a fucking …watchlist!
The primary public works revolved around preparing for war, and the stolen resources kept the economy from going full Weimar.
Every time Germany took over a country, that area's gold reserves in international holdings were transferred to the Nazi economy, and whatever they could physically get their hands on, they stole. Starting with Austria. Continued with the assistance of the Bank of international settlement.
problems when the very first part is incorrect…I always assume the rests of it mostly nonsense
" Treaty of Versailles had imposed crushing reparations on the German people, demanding that Germans repay every nation’s costs of the war."
They werent crushing, they were made to look that way for political reasons, and the end result was very little . The context for France was the 1871 war when Prussian troops remained in occupation till the reparations were paid in full.
Every nationals costs of the war, just isnt true Britain got nothing. And for France and Belgium the costs were for their own reconstruction as the war in that front was mostly fought on their territory, Germany had barely a scratch. The costs in lives and munitions wasnt factored in nor was destruction in eastern, Italian front etc.
As Germany paid very little , as designed, the reconstruction costs were carried by France and Belgium anyway, who also had to maintain a large standing army and construct major defensive fortifications ( Maginot line).
The continuing story of poor old Germany and the nasty Versailles treaty is just the standard german revisionism that they werent responsible for the war.
Since Germany didnt pay a high price they were at it again 20 yrs later, and real answer to divide the country was taken. After the Armistice in 1918 Germany should have been divided North from South. The Southern Bavarian-Austrian state along with the neighbouring german kingdoms would have catholic, linguistic conservative traditions. While the Northern state would have been protestant, liberal/socialist traditions. A NSDP run Greater Bavaria would have been no threat to France or Poland
'In short, during the 1920s a financial merry-go-round was in operation. US bankers lent money to Germany. The German government used that money to pay reparations to Britain and France. The British and French used that money to repay their war loans to the US bankers. The US banks made huge profits, and lent even more money to Germany. Everything was going well, until the bubble burst.
Hitler didn't only cancel reparations payments. He also defaulted on Germany's debts to US (and, to a lesser extent, British) banks. After the Second World War, the new democratic German government accepted responsibility for the roughly 16 billion marks of debt still owed to foreign banks (plus additional debts incurred after 1945) – although in 1953 it was agreed by Germany's creditors to halve the total amount to be repaid, and furthermore the full sum would not become due until after German reunification.
When Germany did reunify in 1990, the German government thus recommenced making payments. The last one, €70 million, was paid in 2010 and thus cleared Germany's outstanding debt from the war.
However, these payments were not reparations; they didn't go to the victims of the war. They went to the banks which had lent money to Weimar Germany in the 1920s. Newspaper reports which refer to the payments made since 1931 as 'reparations' are using the term inaccurately.'-Quora…
Mark Richardson and Duncan Garner admit they don't have much purpose.
"I drove back thinking 'thank god you did that'," he said. "I have spent seven to eight weeks worrying. Worrying about my family, worrying about my job – worrying about my mates.
"I've questioned, over the last seven weeks, someone can only take so much of this degree of low-level anxiety and constant worry for so long."
Seven to eight weeks worrying? Tens of thousands of NZ families and hundreds of thousands of people live this reality every single day of every single week of every single year. Permanently, in fact.
How nice of Mark Richardson to finally recognise how detrimental to life low-level anxiety can be for the vulnerable and under-privileged.
What we really need in these trying times of crisis, especially if you've just been made redundant, is to hear windbag television personalities crapping on about their anxiety. Those poor dabs. I don't know how they cope.
Can someone please explain what this is about? A short version of the history and state of play would be good.
Stuff's Australian owner says it terminated talks with New Zealand media company NZME last week.
NZME, owner of the New Zealand Herald and Newstalk ZB, said in a statement to the NZX on Monday morning that it was seeking urgent legislation to allow it to buy rival publisher Stuff "for $1"by the end of May.
But Stuff owner Nine said in a release to the ASX that while Nine had had discussions with NZME regarding the acquisition of Stuff, "Nine has notified NZME that it has terminated further engagement with NZME".
"NZME shares rose 17 per cent to 25 cents on the NZX in the wake of NZME's announcement, [but later] despite Nine's statement that talks had been terminated."
Interesting – hope the stock exchange is watching the trades.
BTW do you know if the stock exchange has required companies to file notifications of the wage subsidies they have applied for/received plus (if I had my say) an updated table of wage & salary distribution with $ values so we can see how much to trim those top wages.
There appear to be several lines of thinking nationally on when to move from level 3. The majority of comments from readers on Stuff relating to epidemiologist Michael Baker are rather vitriolic and dismissive, and suggest conspiracies of various degrees. I wonder if those correspondents were offered the option to sign a waiver whereby they would not request any intervention/treatment in the event of their catching the virus, they would still be so strident in their views.
No. No, they wouldn't. But life is hard when you can't get your tips frosted, get rolling drunk with your homies, or go to the mall with Stephanie and Monique.
Great interview, but sad to think that the centrists in the UK Labour party ( like in all "left" parties in the western world) would rather live under a right wing party than give a real progressive like Corbyn a chance…disgusting really, although I guess it has exposed how devoid of a moral or ethical centre the Liberal so called 'left' are.
Jeremy Corbyn in conversation with Dr Bob Gill about NHS privatisation and COVID-19 pandemic
Do you believe that most voters were aware of and understood all of the skullduggery and undermining that went on from within Corbyn's party? And that if they did the result would've been the same?
"Peters’ support for Morrison’s call has bewildered Beijing. Canberra’s shadowing of Washington’s diplomatic sallies is expected by the Chinese. They don’t like it (and have made their displeasure very plain) but they are not surprised by it. Peters’ behaviour, on the other hand, has left them perplexed. Is he acting with the full knowledge and blessing of his Prime Minister? If so, then Jacinda Ardern is deliberating putting at risk the mutually respectful and highly beneficial relationship that has evolved between Beijing and Wellington over the course of nearly half a century. If not, then what the hell is going on inside the New Zealand Government?"
It's just occurred to me with all these White House aides getting the 'rona – we might see an Acting President Pelosi after all!
There's no mechanism for temporary fill-ins for prez and veep to be chosen on the fly, it's specified by statute. So if the Kumquat Pol Pot catches it and becomes incapacitated, and passes the preznitsy on to the over-boiled cauliflower Pence by the 25th Amendment, then Pence is in turn incapacitated, it has to go to the Speaker of the House Pelosi.
Forty years ago, the world celebrated the vanquishing of a formidable foe, smallpox, which had maimed and killed millions for centuries. On May 8, 1980, the World Health Organization declared that smallpox had been eradicated.
That milestone, reached while the Cold War still raged, is an example of what the public health world can achieve when it works together — and is particularly resonant in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. The campaign against smallpox took 21 years and required not just vaccinations but tracking and isolating new cases.
“We learned a lot of lessons in smallpox, but one of them is the absolute necessity of coalitions,” William “Bill” Foege, one of the architects of the smallpox eradication program, told STAT.
[…]
Though there is currently no vaccine to prevent Covid-19 infection, the surveillance and containment approach, as it is called, forms the basis of the recommended strategy to contain the new disease. Test to find cases. Identify everyone they’ve been in contact with. Isolate the sick and quarantine the contacts while they might be incubating the disease.
“You hear with coronavirus about contact tracing and how difficult that is. That’s what we were doing with smallpox,” Foege said, noting back then the work was done without computers or cellphones.
In May of 1974, in a single state in India, 1,500 smallpox cases were being identified every day. “And every one of those cases involved a new investigation. So 1,500 investigations a day,” Foege said. “I’m surprised now, with all of our communications and things, that people think tracing Covid-19 is too difficult.”
Within a year of using this containment approach, transmission in the state, Bihar, stopped, Foege said.
Foege, who is a legend in global health circles, called the idea of defunding the WHO “illogical.” He warned the United States risks isolation on the global health stage if it pursues this approach.
Listening to the PM's press conference, hearing her repeating "kiwis will be spaced out" and "we will all be spaced out" in the plan for level two social situations, took me way back. Half a century ago, I was frequently in social gatherings where all were spaced out. I bet plenty of other listeners went into the same time warp! Disappointing to hear nothing about retaining mask-wearing as precaution though. 😷
So far so good. If another decade comes my way, I may even start to suspect that my time of testing may produce a verdict of success. I appreciate your verdict for now!
Mr Trump's style of leadership is reaping as it sows.
I guess when you're on the big money it's best to just trot along behind the blustering buffoon and bite your "You're making a capital dick of yourself right now Don" tongue.
Our supermarket duopoly have paid for their kids' Harvard educations over the last month. Bribes inclusive. Every food $ we used to spend elsewhere has pretty much gone to one of two companies.
They should be telling every staff member "You have all worked harder than you're paid for. Under conditions you aren't paid for. Your pay under Alert level 4 and 3 will be doubled."
I think it's the least they could do, those guys have made millions on millions in the last month. Oh how I longed for KFC we all chucked those $ down Countdown's throat.
The worms will live in every hostIt's hard to pick which one they eat the mostThe horrible people, the horrible peopleIt's as anatomic as the size of your steepleCapitalism has made it this wayOld-fashioned fascism will take it awaySongwriter: Twiggy Ramirez Read more ...
Hi,It’s almost Christmas Day which means it is almost my birthday, where you will find me whimpering in the corner clutching a warm bottle of Baileys.If you’re out of ideas for presents (and truly desperate) then it is possible to gift a full Webworm subscription to a friend (or enemy) ...
This morning’s six standouts for me at 6.30am include:Rachel Helyer Donaldson’s scoop via RNZ last night of cuts to maternity jobs in the health system;Maddy Croad’s scoop via The Press-$ this morning on funding cuts for Christchurch’s biggest food rescue charity;Benedict Collins’ scoop last night via 1News on a last-minute ...
A listing of 25 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 15, 2024 thru Sat, December 21, 2024. Based on feedback we received, this week's roundup is the first one published soleley by category. We are still interested in ...
Well, I've been there, sitting in that same chairWhispering that same prayer half a million timesIt's a lie, though buried in disciplesOne page of the Bible isn't worth a lifeThere's nothing wrong with youIt's true, it's trueThere's something wrong with the villageWith the villageSomething wrong with the villageSongwriters: Andrew Jackson ...
ACT would like to dictate what universities can and can’t say. We knew it was coming. It was outlined in the coalition agreement and has become part of Seymour’s strategy of “emphasising public funding” to prevent people from opposing him and his views—something he also uses to try and de-platform ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Are we heading ...
So the Solstice has arrived – Summer in this part of the world, Winter for the Northern Hemisphere. And with it, the publication my new Norse dark-fantasy piece, As Our Power Lessens at Eternal Haunted Summer: https://eternalhauntedsummer.com/issues/winter-solstice-2024/as-our-power-lessens/ As previously noted, this one is very ‘wyrd’, and Northern Theory of Courage. ...
The Natural Choice: As a starter for ten percent of the Party Vote, “saving the planet” is a very respectable objective. Young voters, in particular, raised on the dire (if unheeded) warnings of climate scientists, and the irrefutable evidence of devastating weather events linked to global warming, vote Green. After ...
The Government cancelled 60% of Kāinga Ora’s new builds next year, even though the land for them was already bought, the consents were consented and there are builders unemployed all over the place. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political ...
Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on UnsplashEvery morning I get up at 3am to go around the traps of news sites in Aotearoa and globally. I pick out the top ones from my point of view and have been putting them into my Dawn Chorus email, which goes out with a podcast. ...
Over on Kikorangi Newsroom's Marc Daalder has published his annual OIA stats. So I thought I'd do mine: 82 OIA requests sent in 2024 7 posts based on those requests 20 average working days to receive a response Ministry of Justice was my most-requested entity, ...
Welcome to the December 2024 Economic Bulletin. We have two monthly features in this edition. In the first, we discuss what the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update from Treasury and the Budget Policy Statement from the Minister of Finance tell us about the fiscal position and what to ...
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi have submitted against the controversial Treaty Principles Bill, slamming the Bill as a breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and an attack on tino rangatiratanga and the collective rights of Tangata Whenua. “This Bill seeks to legislate for Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles that are ...
I don't knowHow to say what's got to be saidI don't know if it's black or whiteThere's others see it redI don't get the answers rightI'll leave that to youIs this love out of fashionOr is it the time of yearAre these words distraction?To the words you want to hearSongwriters: ...
Our economy has experienced its worst recession since 1991. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, December 20 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast above and the daily Pick ‘n’ Mix below ...
Twas the Friday before Christmas and all through the week we’ve been collecting stories for our final roundup of the year. As we start to wind down for the year we hope you all have a safe and happy Christmas and new year. If you’re travelling please be safe on ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the year’s news with: on climate. Her book of the year was Tim Winton’s cli-fi novel Juice and she also mentioned Mike Joy’s memoir The Fight for Fresh Water. ...
The Government can head off to the holidays, entitled to assure itself that it has done more or less what it said it would do. The campaign last year promised to “get New Zealand back on track.” When you look at the basic promises—to trim back Government expenditure, toughen up ...
Open access notables An intensification of surface Earth’s energy imbalance since the late 20th century, Li et al., Communications Earth & Environment:Tracking the energy balance of the Earth system is a key method for studying the contribution of human activities to climate change. However, accurately estimating the surface energy balance ...
Photo by Mauricio Fanfa on UnsplashKia oraCome and join us for our weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news with myself , plus regular guests and , ...
“Like you said, I’m an unreconstructed socialist. Everybody deserves to get something for Christmas.”“ONE OF THOSE had better be for me!” Hannah grinned, fascinated, as Laurie made his way, gingerly, to the bar, his arms full of gift-wrapped packages.“Of course!”, beamed Laurie. Depositing his armful on the bar-top and selecting ...
Data released by Statistics New Zealand today showed a significant slowdown in the economy over the past six months, with GDP falling by 1% in September, and 1.1% in June said CTU Economist Craig Renney. “The data shows that the size of the economy in GDP terms is now smaller ...
One last thing before I quitI never wanted any moreThan I could fit into my headI still remember every single word you saidAnd all the shit that somehow came along with itStill, there's one thing that comforts meSince I was always caged and now I'm freeSongwriters: David Grohl / Georg ...
Sparse offerings outside a Te Kauwhata church. Meanwhile, the Government is cutting spending in ways that make thousands of hungry children even hungrier, while also cutting funding for the charities that help them. It’s also doing that while winding back new building of affordable housing that would allow parents to ...
It is difficult to make sense of the Luxon Coalition Government’s economic management.This end-of-year review about the state of economic management – the state of the economy was last week – is not going to cover the National Party contribution. Frankly, like every other careful observer, I cannot make up ...
This morning I awoke to the lovely news that we are firmly back on track, that is if the scale was reversed.NZ ranks low in global economic comparisonsNew Zealand's economy has been ranked 33rd out of 37 in an international comparison of which have done best in 2024.Economies were ranked ...
Remember those silent movies where the heroine is tied to the railway tracks or going over the waterfall in a barrel? Finance Minister Nicola Willis seems intent on portraying herself as that damsel in distress. According to Willis, this country’s current economic problems have all been caused by the spending ...
Similar to the cuts and the austerity drive imposed by Ruth Richardson in the 1990’s, an era which to all intents and purposes we’ve largely fiddled around the edges with fixing in the time since – over, to be fair, several administrations – whilst trying our best it seems to ...
String-Pulling in the Dark: For the democratic process to be meaningful it must also be public. WITH TRUST AND CONFIDENCE in New Zealand’s politicians and journalists steadily declining, restoring those virtues poses a daunting challenge. Just how daunting is made clear by comparing the way politicians and journalists treated New Zealanders ...
Dear Nicola Willis, thank you for letting us know in so many words that the swingeing austerity hasn't worked.By in so many words I mean the bit where you said, Here is a sea of red ink in which we are drowning after twelve months of savage cost cutting and ...
The Open Government Partnership is a multilateral organisation committed to advancing open government. Countries which join are supposed to co-create regular action plans with civil society, committing to making verifiable improvements in transparency, accountability, participation, or technology and innovation for the above. And they're held to account through an Independent ...
Today I tuned into something strange: a press conference that didn’t make my stomach churn or the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Which was strange, because it was about the torture of children. It was the announcement by Erica Stanford — on her own, unusually ...
This is a must watch, and puts on brilliant and practical display the implications and mechanics of fast-track law corruption and weakness.CLICK HERE: LINK TO WATCH VIDEOOur news media as it is set up is simply not equipped to deal with the brazen disinformation and corruption under this right wing ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Acting Secretary Erin Polaczuk is welcoming the announcement from Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden that she is opening consultation on engineered stone and is calling on her to listen to the evidence and implement a total ban of the product. “We need ...
The Government has announced a 1.5% increase in the minimum wage from 1 April 2025, well below forecast inflation of 2.5%. Unions have reacted strongly and denounced it as a real terms cut. PSA and the CTU are opposing a new round of staff cuts at WorkSafe, which they say ...
The decision to unilaterally repudiate the contract for new Cook Strait ferries is beginning to look like one of the stupidest decisions a New Zealand government ever made. While cancelling the ferries and their associated port infrastructure may have made this year's books look good, it means higher costs later, ...
Hi there! I’ve been overseas recently, looking after a situation with a family member. So apologies if there any less than focused posts! Vanuatu has just had a significant 7.3 earthquake. Two MFAT staff are unaccounted for with local fatalities.It’s always sad to hear of such things happening.I think of ...
Today is a special member's morning, scheduled to make up for the government's theft of member's days throughout the year. First up was the first reading of Greg Fleming's Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill, which was passed unanimously. Currently the House is debating the third reading of ...
We're going backwardsIgnoring the realitiesGoing backwardsAre you counting all the casualties?We are not there yetWhere we need to beWe are still in debtTo our insanitiesSongwriter: Martin Gore Read more ...
Willis blamed Treasury for changing its productivity assumptions and Labour’s spending increases since Covid for the worsening Budget outlook. Photo: Getty ImagesMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, December 18 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast above ...
Today the Auckland Transport board meet for the last time this year. For those interested (and with time to spare), you can follow along via this MS Teams link from 10am. I’ve taken a quick look through the agenda items to see what I think the most interesting aspects are. ...
Hi,If you’re a New Zealander — you know who Mike King is. He is the face of New Zealand’s battle against mental health problems. He can be loud and brash. He raises, and is entrusted with, a lot of cash. Last year his “I Am Hope” charity reported a revenue ...
Probably about the only consolation available from yesterday’s unveiling of the Half-Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) is that it could have been worse. Though Finance Minister Nicola Willis has tightened the screws on future government spending, she has resisted the calls from hard-line academics, fiscal purists and fiscal hawks ...
The right have a stupid saying that is only occasionally true:When is democracy not democracy? When it hasn’t been voted on.While not true in regards to branches of government such as the judiciary, it’s a philosophy that probably should apply to recently-elected local government councillors. Nevertheless, this concept seemed to ...
Long story short: the Government’s austerity policy has driven the economy into a deeper and longer recession that means it will have to borrow $20 billion more over the next four years than it expected just six months ago. Treasury’s latest forecasts show the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s fiscal strategy of ...
Come and join myself and CTU Chief Economist for a pop-up ‘Hoon’ webinar on the Government’s Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) with paying subscribers to The Kākā for 30 minutes at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream to watch our chat. Don’t worry if ...
In 1998, in the wake of the Paremoremo Prison riot, the Department of Corrections established the "Behaviour Management Regime". Prisoners were locked in their cells for 22 or 23 hours a day, with no fresh air, no exercise, no social contact, no entertainment, and in some cases no clothes and ...
New data released by the Treasury shows that the economic policies of this Government have made things worse in the year since they took office, said NZCTU Economist Craig Renney. “Our fiscal indicators are all heading in the wrong direction – with higher levels of debt, a higher deficit, and ...
At the 2023 election, National basically ran on a platform of being better economic managers. So how'd that turn out for us? In just one year, they've fucked us for two full political terms: The government's books are set to remain deeply in the red for the near term ...
AUSTERITYText within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedMy spreadsheet insists This pain leads straight to glory (File not found) Read more ...
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi are saying that the Government should do the right thing and deliver minimum wage increases that don’t see workers fall further behind, in response to today’s announcement that the minimum wage will only be increased by 1.5%, well short of forecast inflation. “With inflation forecast ...
Oh, I weptFor daysFilled my eyesWith silly tearsOh, yeaBut I don'tCare no moreI don't care ifMy eyes get soreSongwriters: Paul Rodgers / Paul Kossoff. Read more ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bob HensonIn this aerial view, fingers of meltwater flow from the melting Isunnguata Sermia glacier descending from the Greenland Ice Sheet on July 11, 2024, near Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. According to the Programme for Monitoring of the Greenland Ice Sheet (PROMICE), the ...
In August, I wrote an article about David Seymour1 with a video of his testimony, to warn that there were grave dangers to his Ministry of Regulation:David Seymour's Ministry of Slush Hides Far Greater RisksWhy Seymour's exorbitant waste of taxpayers' money could be the least of concernThe money for Seymour ...
Willis is expected to have to reveal the bitter fiscal fruits of her austerity strategy in the HYEFU later today. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/TheKakaMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, December 17 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast ...
On Friday the government announced it would double the number of toll roads in New Zealand as well as make a few other changes to how toll roads are used in the country. The real issue though is not that tolling is being used but the suggestion it will make ...
The Prime Minister yesterday engaged in what looked like a pre-emptive strike designed to counter what is likely to be a series of depressing economic statistics expected before the end of the week. He opened his weekly post-Cabinet press conference with a recitation of the Government’s achievements. “It certainly has ...
This whooping cough story from south Auckland is a good example of the coalition government’s approach to social need – spend money on urging people to get vaccinated but only after you’ve cut the funding to where they could get vaccinated. This has been the case all year with public ...
And if there is a GodI know he likes to rockHe likes his loud guitarsHis spiders from MarsAnd if there is a GodI know he's watching meHe likes what he seesBut there's trouble on the breezeSongwriter: William Patrick Corgan Read more ...
Here’s a quick round up of today’s political news:1. MORE FOOD BANKS, CHARITIES, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SHELTERS AND YOUTH SOCIAL SERVICES SET TO CLOSE OR SCALE BACK AROUND THE COUNTRY AS GOVT CUTS FUNDINGSome of Auckland's largest foodbanks are warning they may need to close or significantly reduce food parcels after ...
Iain Rennie, CNZMSecretary and Chief Executive to the TreasuryDear Secretary, Undue restrictions on restricted briefings This week, the Treasury barred representatives from four organisations, including the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi, from attending the restricted briefing for the Half-Year Economic and Fiscal Update. We had been ...
This is a guest post by Tim Adriaansen, a community, climate, and accessibility advocate.I won’t shut up about climate breakdown, and whenever possible I try to shift the focus of a climate conversation towards solutions. But you’ll almost never hear me give more than a passing nod to ...
A grassroots backlash has forced a backdown from Brown, but he is still eyeing up plenty of tolls for other new roads. And the pressure is on Willis to ramp up the Government’s austerity strategy. Photo: Getty ImagesMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
Hi all,I'm pretty overwhelmed by all your messages and emails today; thank you so very much.As much as my newsletter this morning was about money, and we all need to earn money, it was mostly about world domination if I'm honest. 😉I really hate what’s happening to our country, and ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 8, 2024 thru Sat, December 14, 2024. Listing by Category Like last week's summary this one contains the list of articles twice: based on categories and based on ...
I started writing this morning about Hobson’s Pledge, examining the claims they and their supporters make, basically ripping into them. But I kept getting notifications coming through, and not good ones.Each time I looked up, there was another un-subscription message, and I felt a bit sicker at the thought of ...
Once, long before there was Harry and Meghan and Dodi and all those episodes of The Crown, they came to spend some time with us, Charles and Diana. Was there anyone in the world more glamorous than the Princess of Wales?Dazzled as everyone was by their company, the leader of ...
The collective right have a problem.The entire foundation for their world view is antiscientific. Their preferred economic strategies have been disproven. Their whole neoliberal model faces accusations of corporate corruption and worsening inequality. Climate change not only definitely exists, its rapid progression demands an immediate and expensive response in order ...
Just ten days ago, South Korea's president attempted a self-coup, declaring martial law and attempting to have opposition MPs murdered or arrested in an effort to seize unconstrained power. The attempt was rapidly defeated by the national assembly voting it down and the people flooding the streets to defend democracy. ...
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The Government is quietly undertaking consultation on the dangerous Regulatory Standards Bill over the Christmas period to avoid too much attention. ...
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A Bill to modernise the role of Justices of the Peace (JP), ensuring they remain active in their communities and connected with other JPs, has been put into the ballot. ...
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The Green Party has warned that a Green Government will revoke the consents of companies who override environmental protections as part of Fast-Track legislation being passed today. ...
The Green Party says the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update shows how the Government is failing to address the massive social and infrastructure deficits our country faces. ...
The Government’s latest move to reduce the earnings of migrant workers will not only hurt migrants but it will drive down the wages of Kiwi workers. ...
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The Government’s announcement today of a 1.5 per cent increase to minimum wage is another blow for workers, with inflation projected to exceed the increase, meaning it’s a real terms pay reduction for many. ...
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In response to a new report from ERO, the Government has acknowledged the urgent need for consistency across the curriculum for Relationship and Sexuality Education (RSE) in schools. ...
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Thank you for the invitation to speak with you tonight on behalf of the political party I belong to - which is New Zealand First. As we have heard before this evening the Kinleith Mill is proposing to reduce operations by focusing on pulp and discontinuing “lossmaking paper production”. They say that they are currently consulting on the plan to permanently shut ...
Auckland Central MP, Chlöe Swarbrick, has written to Mayor Wayne Brown requesting he stop the unnecessary delays on St James Theatre’s restoration. ...
Kiwis planning a swim or heading out on a boat this summer should remember to stop and think about water safety, Sport & Recreation Minister Chris Bishop and ACC and Associate Transport Minister Matt Doocey say. “New Zealand’s beaches, lakes and rivers are some of the most beautiful in the ...
The Government is urging Kiwis to drive safely this summer and reminding motorists that Police will be out in force to enforce the road rules, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“This time of year can be stressful and result in poor decision-making on our roads. Whether you are travelling to see ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says Health New Zealand will move swiftly to support dozens of internationally-trained doctors already in New Zealand on their journey to employment here, after a tripling of sought-after examination places. “The Medical Council has delivered great news for hardworking overseas doctors who want to contribute ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has appointed Sarah Ottrey to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). “At my first APEC Summit in Lima, I experienced firsthand the role that ABAC plays in guaranteeing political leaders hear the voice of business,” Mr Luxon says. “New Zealand’s ABAC representatives are very well respected and ...
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The Government today announced the intended closure of the Apollo Hotel as Contracted Emergency Housing (CEH) in Rotorua, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. This follows a 30 per cent reduction in the number of households in CEH in Rotorua since National came into Government. “Our focus is on ending CEH in the Whakarewarewa area starting ...
The Government will reshape vocational education and training to return decision making to regions and enable greater industry input into work-based learning Tertiary Education and Skills Minister, Penny Simmonds says. “The redesigned system will better meet the needs of learners, industry, and the economy. It includes re-establishing regional polytechnics that ...
The Government is taking action to better manage synthetic refrigerants and reduce emissions caused by greenhouse gases found in heating and cooling products, Environment Minister Penny Simmonds says. “Regulations will be drafted to support a product stewardship scheme for synthetic refrigerants, Ms. Simmonds says. “Synthetic refrigerants are found in a ...
People travelling on State Highway 1 north of Hamilton will be relieved that remedial works and safety improvements on the Ngāruawāhia section of the Waikato Expressway were finished today, with all lanes now open to traffic, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“I would like to acknowledge the patience of road users ...
Tertiary Education and Skills Minister, Penny Simmonds, has announced a new appointment to the board of Education New Zealand (ENZ). Dr Erik Lithander has been appointed as a new member of the ENZ board for a three-year term until 30 January 2028. “I would like to welcome Dr Erik Lithander to the ...
The Government will have senior representatives at Waitangi Day events around the country, including at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, but next year Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has chosen to take part in celebrations elsewhere. “It has always been my intention to celebrate Waitangi Day around the country with different ...
Two more criminal gangs will be subject to the raft of laws passed by the Coalition Government that give Police more powers to disrupt gang activity, and the intimidation they impose in our communities, Police Minister Mark Mitchell says. Following an Order passed by Cabinet, from 3 February 2025 the ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Justice Christian Whata as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Whata’s appointment as a Judge of the Court of Appeal will take effect on 1 August 2025 and fill a vacancy created by the retirement of Hon Justice David Goddard on ...
The latest economic figures highlight the importance of the steps the Government has taken to restore respect for taxpayers’ money and drive economic growth, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Data released today by Stats NZ shows Gross Domestic Product fell 1 per cent in the September quarter. “Treasury and most ...
Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds and Associate Minister of Education David Seymour today announced legislation changes to strengthen freedom of speech obligations on universities. “Freedom of speech is fundamental to the concept of academic freedom and there is concern that universities seem to be taking a more risk-averse ...
Police Minister, Mark Mitchell, and Internal Affairs Minister, Brooke van Velden, today launched a further Public Safety Network cellular service that alongside last year’s Cellular Roaming roll-out, puts globally-leading cellular communications capability into the hands of our emergency responders. The Public Safety Network’s new Cellular Priority service means Police, Wellington ...
State Highway 1 through the Mangamuka Gorge has officially reopened today, providing a critical link for Northlanders and offering much-needed relief ahead of the busy summer period, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“The Mangamuka Gorge is a vital route for Northland, carrying around 1,300 vehicles per day and connecting the Far ...
The Government has welcomed decisions by the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) and Ashburton District Council confirming funding to boost resilience in the Canterbury region, with construction on a second Ashburton Bridge expected to begin in 2026, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Delivering a second Ashburton Bridge to improve resilience and ...
The Government is backing the response into high pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Otago, Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard says. “Cabinet has approved new funding of $20 million to enable MPI to meet unbudgeted ongoing expenses associated with the H7N6 response including rigorous scientific testing of samples at the enhanced PC3 ...
Legislation that will repeal all advertising restrictions for broadcasters on Sundays and public holidays has passed through first reading in Parliament today, Media Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “As a growing share of audiences get their news and entertainment from streaming services, these restrictions have become increasingly redundant. New Zealand on ...
Today the House agreed to Brendan Horsley being appointed Inspector-General of Defence, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Mr Horsley’s experience will be invaluable in overseeing the establishment of the new office and its support networks. “He is currently Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, having held that role since June 2020. ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government has agreed to the final regulations for the levy on insurance contracts that will fund Fire and Emergency New Zealand from July 2026. “Earlier this year the Government agreed to a 2.2 percent increase to the rate of levy. Fire ...
The Government is delivering regulatory relief for New Zealand businesses through changes to the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act. “The Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Amendment Bill, which was introduced today, is the second Bill – the other being the Statutes Amendment Bill - that ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed further progress on the Hawke’s Bay Expressway Road of National Significance (RoNS), with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) Board approving funding for the detailed design of Stage 1, paving the way for main works construction to begin in late 2025.“The Government is moving at ...
The Government today released a request for information (RFI) to seeking interest in partnerships to plant trees on Crown-owned land with low farming and conservation value (excluding National Parks) Forestry Minister Todd McClay announced. “Planting trees on Crown-owned land will drive economic growth by creating more forestry jobs in our regions, providing more wood ...
Court timeliness, access to justice, and improving the quality of existing regulation are the focus of a series of law changes introduced to Parliament today by Associate Minister of Justice Nicole McKee. The three Bills in the Regulatory Systems (Justice) Amendment Bill package each improve a different part of the ...
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Mr Roger Holmes Miller and Ms Tarita Hutchinson have been appointed to the Charities Registration Board, Community and Voluntary Sector Minister Louise Upston says. “I would like to welcome the new members joining the Charities Registration Board. “The appointment of Ms Hutchinson and Mr Miller will strengthen the Board’s capacity ...
More building consent and code compliance applications are being processed within the statutory timeframe since the Government required councils to submit quarterly data, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “In the midst of a housing shortage we need to look at every step of the build process for efficiencies ...
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New Zealand is providing Vanuatu assistance following yesterday's devastating earthquake, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. "Vanuatu is a member of our Pacific family and we are supporting it in this time of acute need," Mr Peters says. "Our thoughts are with the people of Vanuatu, and we will be ...
The Government welcomes the Commerce Commission’s plan to reduce card fees for Kiwis by an estimated $260 million a year, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says.“The Government is relentlessly focused on reducing the cost of living, so Kiwis can keep more of their hard-earned income and live a ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour has welcomed the Early Childhood Education (ECE) regulatory review report, the first major report from the Ministry for Regulation. The report makes 15 recommendations to modernise and simplify regulations across ECE so services can get on with what they do best – providing safe, high-quality care ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ari Mattes, Lecturer in Communications and Media, University of Notre Dame Australia Late Night With The Devil. Maslow Entertainment Marketing is critical to the success of commercial films, and companies will often spend half as much again on top of the ...
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NewsroomBy Dr Lisa Darragh, Dr Raewyn Eden and Dr David Pomeroy
At long last, The Spinoff shells out for a nut ranking. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be a member today.It recently came to The Spinoff’s attention ...
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Summer reissue: One anxiously attentive passenger pays attention to an in-flight safety video, and wonders ‘Why can’t I pick up my own phone?’ The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up ...
Summer reissue: Why do those Lange-Douglas years cast such a long shadow 40 years on? The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be a member today. First published June ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp');Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions.The post Newsroom daily quiz, Monday 23 December appeared first on Newsroom. ...
The Government’s social housing agency has backed out of a billion-dollar infrastructure alliance that would have built about 6000 new homes in Auckland – less than 18 months after signing a five-year extension.Labour says the decision to rip up the contract and sell off existing state houses could lead to ...
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Tim Watkin has always seemed a staunch Labour supporter. He's taken a strong moral stand against the gagging order here: https://www.pundit.co.nz/content/gagging-order-is-double-dumb-disrespecting-public-sacrifice-amp-damaging-brand-ardern
"Sent to Beehive staff from the Prime Ministers Office, it told ministers not to give interviews about the thousands of pages of official papers, minutes and advice proactively released Friday afternoon. The documents dealt with the government’s response to the virus and the email basically told the government team they’ve been managing so well and have so much pubic support, they didn’t need to answer questions about what was in the papers."
"There's no real need to defend. Because the public have confidence in what has been achieved and what the Govt is doing," the email said. "Instead we can dismiss”.
"Now it’s run of the mill to suggest certain lines for ministers to run, as the email did. But to simply shut down all the cabinet ministers who are meant to be part of the team running the country during a crisis suggests people around the prime minister who are getting a little too comfortable with the extraordinary – but temporary – power currently invested in them."
"It’s dumb on a range of levels. Morally – or perhaps constitutionally – the New Zealand public has allowed this government at this time extraordinary powers and deserves at the very least in return full and frank information from cabinet. They deserve respect for the sacrifices made, not dismissal. To tell political staff to “dismiss” the questions of journalists working to keep that public informed is deeply cynical and defensive. It’s bad enough in the normal sweep of events; in these troubled times it’s shameful."
Well-reasoned, and I found nothing to dispute. But here's the thing: look at how he is directing readers (implicitly) to blame the PM's advisers. Guess who made the actual decision to issue the gag! I get that Tim is motivated to defend Labour's brand. Fair enough – but ain't it just a tad disingenuous to tiptoe around the PM like that?
What gagging order ?
Heres David Clark
Health Minister David Clark has rejected claims he and other Government ministers have been “gagged”, as he fronted today to announce a $160 million boost to Pharmac health spending.
“Clark rejected today an assertion he had been gagged – or that the memo was a sign of arrogance, as several political commentators have written. “Obviously I am here.”
He said he had not personally received the memo, but saw it after it became a story. He did not believe the Government was arrogant.
““I am here, happy to answer questions that journalists might have. This is the advice we have received. We have looked at that advice and then made decisions.”
Seems he heard about the gag the same way every one else did , suggest its was advice passed around the media advisors not a PM 'directive'
So the the Great Gag beatup falls flat on its face at the first hurdle . The health minister is happy to ask questions.Clearly its the pre budget talk fest so many Ministers will be available to the journos, pushing their portfolios but happy to talk .
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12330811
Get real. "Sent to Beehive staff from the Prime Ministers Office, it told ministers not to give interviews". What part of that don't you understand?
What part of …
I am here, happy to answer questions that journalists might have
....dont you understand . It was advice. And it didnt tell ministers anything , it was for media personal.
Your tone suggests you are doing a beatup of your own
"The email from Rob Carr, a senior ministerial adviser to the prime minister, was sent to the staff of Government ministers and to staff at the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC) who had worked on making public the documents. " Stuff
Rob might need to tell the media he's not all that after all.
So you're suggesting that Tim Watkin & Duncan Garner, etc, got it wrong? The PM's senior adviser does not actually speak for the PM? Still looks like wrong planet.
"The prime minister's office now says the email — which was provided to press gallery journalists hours after the Government publicly released hundreds of Cabinet papers — was a "clumsy instruction"."
I wonder if that opinion comes from a different staffer (anonymous). Obfuscation must be an exciting game for them. 🙄
Yes. Next!
Hard to believe Druncan could get something wrong, I know.
But hey, this leftist shares his view: http://norightturn.blogspot.com/2020/05/hubris-invites-nemesis.html
Now I know you will want to argue that his hubris invites nemesis thesis is so hi-falutin' that it'll sail clean over the heads of folks here, and perhaps even that words ending in is ought to be illegal…
As the Stuff story said , releases of Cabinet advice dont go with an offer of 'A Minister to speak on the record.'
What Ministers will speak about is a decision they have made.
All standard ministerial protocol.
The reef fish will do their normal actions based on their collective mind
When National do it, heralded as "disciplined", when Labour do it, slammed as "gagging order".
Omg yes. Simon has been on morning report more than any other National leader…
Are you suggesting that Ardern herself issued the email?
"An email from the Prime Minister's office, obtained by the Herald, directed ministers' press secretaries to issue only "brief written statements"
Said the Herald story
Yeah I know that. But the final paragraph of the primary comment seems to suggest the PM herself is somehow responsible. Rather than a clumsy staffer in the PMO.
Thats Dennis Franks style …. stretch the facts to fit his own preconceived notions
How did this happen?
LOL, really?
Amateurs .
The Prime Minister's office always speaks for the Prime Minister.
Clark was put up on the weekend because of the media blowback.
There was a discussion on that just now on the AM Show. Garner thought it had come from the PM & Trotter not. Starting to look like a staffer may have lost the plot & issued instructions without the PM's authorisation. If a Trump staffer did that, they'd get fired. Gone by lunchtime. Will be interesting to see how Ardern handles the insubordination.
If that's what it actually was. We await the facts still. The duke thinks the health minister is telling us the facts. Probably the only person in the entire country who would trust the health minister to do that…
Tinfoil hat. Take it off your head. Not everything is a government conspiracy orchestrated by that machiavellian schemer, Jacinda Ardern. I know the right are desperately flailing about trying to find a club to bludgeon her with because Bridges couldn't score a hit if you gave him a cannon and a satellite targeting system, but let's not go overboard.
Conspiracy? I didn't suggest any such thing! Nor am I a rightist. Try to get your head around what actually happened, huh? Did she instruct her ministers not to comment or not? The impression created by the email from her senior advisor makes us wonder if he does actually speak for her or not. We await clarification as to the source of the instruction.
We don't know. I don't know. You don't know. But your insinuation couldn't be any clearer. "Jacinda's gagging people! Police State! The fascists are on the march!" Let's all sit down, have a nice cup of tea, breathe, and wait. Getting all bent out of shape over things that likely aren't even true is a sure-fire road to a stomach ulcer. I wouldn't want you to get a stomach ulcer, Dennis.
You're overdramatising. My concern is around damage-mitigation. I'd rather she didn't get a reputation for hypocrisy. That does not concern you? Open, transparent governance, remember! That difference between preaching & practise easily becomes fatal. Voters get shifted by perceptions as much as reality!
Not a lot concerns me. I find being perpetually unconcerned about things is the best way to manage my mental health. (And puts me at low risk of developing a stomach ulcer.) But I understand where you're coming from in terms of not wanting JA to end up looking like a hypocrite. I guess we'll have to wait to discover the truth of the matter. I hope it wasn't an emotional junior staffer.
The only person who said 'open and transparent' was Clare Curran. And we all know what happened there.
Well, I see No Right Turn has a similar stance. Albeit, somewhat more forthright! 😇
Reef Fish !
NRT is mostly too silly for words anyway
" duke thinks the health minister is telling us the facts."
Who said that …this is of course classic Dennis Frank word manipulation
The health Minister was available for any questions , not gagged . Proof of the fantasy of your and others basic premise.
"yet , Here I am"
Thank you Duke. Did not notice that you had already articulated this earlier.
I'm suggesting that the email would have been authorised by the PM – before it was issued. Anyone who believes the contrary is naive. Does the duke really think Ardern would allow staffers to issue directives to ministers?? If so, wrong planet dude!
Nothing wrong with requiring message centralisation. Just good practise.
If the directive was to comms staff in Minister's offices then yes it would make sense to have come from comms staff in the PM's office (not the DPMC).
This is like one of those media stories that starts out like the worst thing has happened in the history of the world and further down the page it's more than slightly different. By your 3rd post it could be that a staffer in despatching the message has added the offending bit. Rather than the PM be hung drawn and quartered for the message that should happen to the staffer. And I sense, in the event of not despatching the despatcher, to Ardern herself.
True, but the gagging order framing came from Tim Watkin, remember (and others), so I was merely commenting on it as an emerging feature of our co-created reality.
If the PM did not issue or authorise it, the issue will likely become one of employment for the staffer. Remember that damage done to the govt's reputation in the eyes of voters is crucial in an election year. Minimisation is therefore crucial to the PM to increase the likelihood of re-election.
I bet she knows that, so will clarify who was responsible for creating the misapprehension (if she confirms it was that) or inform us that she was actually the source. If she fails to do so, it will be a sign that she is so confident of re-election that the damage done is no problem…
It is standard message control. Not a mistake. Not a firing offense. Red herring by Nats and credulous media.
Minimisation is crucial? So is maximisation. That's why it happens.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12330811
That must have been one clumsy directive to Ministers, but I’m sure you can fit it into your story 😉
Releasing documents on a Friday and managing your media message is hardly new, if not perfect democracy. This whole media outrage thing is a nonsense, a manufactured media hissy fit from a sidelined MSM that is resenting seeing a popular PM usurp their power.
The difference is when it happened under Key the MSM fell over itself to kiss the governments arse and hold the opposition to account in the hope some well paid sinecures and baubles would fall their way in PR and as advisors.
With a Labour government they have no such hopes so they cling to what privileges they can retain like shit to a blanket.
+100 the msm continue to display their irrelevance when it comes down to the crunch.
JA does it better, simpler and they can’t spin it which is their only job most days.
Time for a better public broadcasting presence, they've been a disgrace pimping nationals fwitted Trump themes.
Give us a break Dennis. there is no "gagging order" simply a normal and pragmatic approach in the face of increasing media misconduct. We are very fortunate that Jacinda has the ability and daring to go over the heads of our dysfunctional media. They are not happy about it but they have brought it upon themselves. What is upsetting the media about this the most is the amount of pushback from general public over their conduct. When they are through the denial/anger phase we just might start to see some improvement.
You get wrong Dennis. I've been reading his pieces for years and he is not a natural Labour man. But I give him credit for trying to be balanced in his views. But he is- along with all the others – wrong in their assumptions over that email.
It was never a blanket ban, and I'm suspicious of all the palaver it is creating. It has the feeling of engineered hysteria encouraged by a band of C/T type operators who are getting concerned by the national and international following Jacinda is receiving.
After years of subterfuge and the manipulation of populations into thinking their ideological opponents are the cause of all society's ills, along comes this bloody woman called Jacinda Ardern who is turning their hard fought battles for personal gain and supremacy upside down.
😮 Oh well, it sounds good.
Don't we all miss Malcolm Tucker.?
Agree. Watkin is a centrist, but certainly no partisan. Could be considered liberal or broadly socially democratic, but many of his stances are pragmatic. He is certainly a neutral journo and not enamoured of Labour. He usually follows the hot story in the news.
I’m not sure who the RNZ reporter that did the piece with National Finance Spokesperson Goldsmith on Morning Report just now is, but it was a really odd line of questioning.
Given that National would have had us in Level 2 at least a couple of weeks ago and given that almost everywhere else that has scaled back lockdown measures has had increased rates of infection, you would think that someone in the 4th estate would have the chops to ask the opposition how big an outbreak they’d be prepared to accept to get us to a lower level?
You forget the kiwi msm simple rule of DP logic:
IF labour/green/nzf 'hold to account' ELSE national 'Look the other way, follow script, supply soapbox'
Sweden apparently now will not admit to ICU anyone over 50 with co-morbidities, or just anyone over 80. This is not just aggressive triaging it is venturing into eugenics, of which Sweden has a dark history – https://www.pop.org/sweden-eugenics-world-war-ii/
I think this helps explain Swedish exceptionalism in the face of COVID-19. As a culture, they apparently have a long tradition of deliberately maltreating the weak.
I heard some where that just admitting a patient to ICU pushes the staff needed to care for them 5 fold from their previous ward. They are close to losing control.
However if I was over 80 I wouldnt want be sedated to go on a ventilator either. The death rate is extremely high for the elderly and you may be bed ridden anyway if you survive. Even people in their 30s cant walk across the room unaided until their lungs have fully recovered many weeks later. There is strong evidence that early on people were put on ventilators too soon as the first option.
Prognosis isn't the issue. It is the refusal to treat.
Prognosis is a key element of triage.
The decision isn't because of eugenics, it's because the machine that has a 3% chance of saving a life will probably be needed for someone who would have a 10% chance of surviving.
But it's because their hospitals are full they have to make this choice.
yes. Specifically their icu beds with venitlators.
Next step is to not admit some people to regular ward beds because none are available.
And the concomitant improvised storage of bodies as seen in USA.
Institutional eugenics then?
Always
Eugenics is about trying to improve people.
Triage is about trying to keep as many people alive as possible.
So, no.
Racism works differently institutionally than outright white supremacists. I don't see why the concept of eugenics can't be understood likewise. It's not that the Swedish govt are Nazis, it's that the political and social decisions being made may be de facto eugenics.
If a society sees disabled (or weak) people as lesser at a cultural level, how would this not affect decisions being made with the various parts of the system about health resource allocation.
Until I see reliable reporting on this issue in Sweden (triaging and the basis of that), I'm theorising. It may be that the people not being admitted to the ICU are still being prioritised with good medical care (i.e. it's an issue of appropriate care). Or it might be that the decision is these people are less likely to survive and we're running out of gear, so we won't treat them (the Italian situation). How society values disabled people generally affects all of that.
I mean NZ doesn't practice eugenics, yet we have entrenched institutional abuse and neglect of disabled people. It's not hard to see how that might play out if we have a major epidemic and the health system wasn't coping.
Yes, I think I see where you're coming from.
I suppose the tell would be in the comorbidities they exclude from the triage list. EG they include CF but exclude heart disease as deprioritisation criteria, even though patients at different stages of their condition might have equally poor prognoses. If we could argue one condition is viewed more commonly as a "disability" than the other.
But that's just the analyst in me speculating. If they're just using a standard vulnerable people list, I dunno how one would distinguish an institutional bias from a basic triage guideline.
That statement is either ignorant of history, or whitewashing, or just disphobic and I'm not sure which.
And anyone who has even had a passing look at the idea, knows it operates mainly in medical circles and is opportunistic to the core.
Fair call, it was a clumsy description poorly aimed at the idea that they were trying to create a society filled with what they saw as "better" people, be it based upon ethnicity or an undesirable tendency to "choose" poverty (or both, or whatever their boggle was).
They weren't about education and learning to play musical instruments, no.
eu•gen•ics yoo͞-jĕn′ĭks
►
The study or practice of attempting to improve the human gene pool by encouraging the reproduction of people considered to have desirable traits and discouraging or preventing the reproduction of people considered to have undesirable traits.
I'm not gonna take that bait. Too easy.
Isn't it just.
Words eh!
And another country with a past love of eugenics is.. New Zealand. You can see why disability advocates are keeping a very close eye on where the ideas of the right are veering.
In Aotearoa, the more 'eugenicesque' policies seem to be coming from the left e.g. abortion reform, euthanasia legalisation.
Seemore Coq's a leftist?
A lot of the support round these parts I would describe as left.
Similarly a lot of opposition to both comes from the socially conservative.
Eugenicists wanted to 'conserve' the 'purity' of their population.
Interesting motivations to untangle but I'm not hearing that about either abortion or euthanasia, are you?
" Interesting motivations to untangle but I'm not hearing that about either abortion or euthanasia, are you? "
While conserving the purity of the population doesn't come up in discussions, especially in mixed company, reforms of either make picking and choosing easier.
Although the point of my reply was the 'left' seem keener than the 'right' for these things.
Abortion reform is just allowing women to access abortions without having to go through hoops. In any case, the amount of abortions in NZ is trending downward long term, thanks to the avalibility of birth control measures.
Ironically it is easier for men to get a vasectomy, which can be done in the primary health sector for under $400 and takes 15min. I dont see anyone calling that 'eugenics'.
Yeah. nah Sacha, the left are as bad as the right in embracing eugenics in this country. For starters a wee look at first labour government and the support for programs like the plunket and the treatment of mental health. Or the earlier Liberal government treatment of returning war veterans. Nor the tacit agreement of both main parties throughout the twentieth century to sterilize disabled women.
And I dear say you'd struggle to find any historian back you up. Google is not going to be your friend either – except for a few loony marxist sites.
Those are good examples, thank you – especially the last one.
Can you please link to where you read this Sanctuary? I'm not finding much via google.
I’m clearly not following this. Your link directs to an article on sterilisation written 23 years ago. How is this relevant to admitting sick & elderly to ICU or not due to the COVID-19 pandemic [and where is your link for that?]?
When John Campbell on breakfast news is criticising the government for the email directive to ministers not to talk to the press, then its time for the government to take note. Labour have done a great job of managing the shutdown, but that goodwill can quickly disappear if they take the NZ public for granted.
They may be no different to other parties that have been in charge of the country, but Jacinda did say they would govern differently & be open & transparent. So Labour will be scrambling to play down the email directive. It must have been directed by Jacinda.
Any governments way of talking about what they have released (and sometimes releasing it piecemeal to setup a specific narrative) is also known as spin. In this case they seem to be relying on the outcome for New Zealand speaking for itself. There can't have been much of substance to talk about in this release.
Also the media will quickly tire of the positive narrative. That one doesn't sell the news.
There isnt any gagging according to David Clark, you know the Heath Minister
He said he had not personally received the memo, but saw it after it became a story.
““I am here, happy to answer questions that journalists might have. "
You reckon? I think you’ve underestimated the churn of the news cycle in these times.
The PM directed her staff to direct Ministers’ staff to direct the Ministers.
It would have been more direct if she’d just Tweeted them directly herself. And she has a degree in comms!? Pffff ….
How did this happen?
LOL, really?
Amateurs .
Just who are the amateurs here lilman.
nz 310 cases pm, 4 deaths pm
USA cases 4100 pm, deaths 243 pm (80,000 death)
uk cases 3200 per m deaths 469 per m (30,000 deaths
lol, you really are going to defend that excrement that was delivered on Friday's document drop?
Open and Honest, that's what the PM said and what has been shown to be the actual truth. Never cling to dead corpses, they eventually sink.
Apparently the traditional Friday hide&seek doesn't come organised by subject and with a table of contents for each. So a definite increase in openness and honesty in that regard.
Just a small point if we had the same death rate as US we would have nearly a 1000 deaths!!
Did I said I was defending — your words and interpretation.
Who do you think have handled the crisis better Trump or Ardern?
What is the point of comparing two completely different countries in this way ?
To show up the difference in response.
And if we had New York City's death rate we would be at about 11,000 deaths.
The American system of governance is totally different to NZ, to compare is like comparing touch rugby to all black test matches.
If you argue they are the same, you simply are an ideologue, who cares what the USA does, our response is ours to measure and to compare it to others is simply spin.
Own what you do and say, don't look to justify by comparison.
'The American system of governance is totally different to NZ,
Yes that is sort of the point!!!
dv was contrasting, not comparing.
Indeed Thank you Ivino!!
Whats America got to do with us, give me one reason to compare or contrast NZ to the USA?
This is about us as a nation, we run our own ship. Good or bad it's our reaction that needs to be critiqued.
Don't forget it's our responsibility to be held accountable by ourselves not political ideologues or party officials.
It's easier to judge a yacht crew against another yacht crew than just by themselves – you see their decisions, and the different decisions made by other crews at the same time, and what the results were. That helps establish how fair criticism is.
Same with judging the covid response against other countries.
Sure, a perfect result would have no community cases and probably zero deaths. There are things to improve – e.g. testing and contact tracing. But to get an idea of the govt's overall performance, we need to judge them against how other governments reacted, and what their results were.
Yes, we were lucky in many ways. But it's not all luck (otherwise there would be no point in criticising the government at all, as no action wouild change anything).
The govt went into lockdown as soon as it was being transmitted in the community. Comms have been excellent, and the leadership is evident by the nation largely pulling in the same direction.
Many other nations have failed dismally, in a variety of ways, and their mortality rate is evident.
Not perfect. But pretty good, overall.
Sorry, but 21 people died because of inaction, other countries sorted it, look at the debacle of the measle epidemic and they now say trust us, no way.
"21 people died because of inaction"
Even assuming every single one of those people caught it in NZ rather than overseas and that the comment is fair by every other impartial measure (rather than expecting perfect judgement during a rapidly evolving situation), that's well near the far end of the queue to hell for pollies whose decisions killed their citizens.
Not just for covid, or internationally – I suspect Roger Douglas would be on the hook for more than 21 dead, for example.
"lol" this bot is stuck in a loop.
You already said that lilspam.
Gabby, you out of your PJs yet?
Why both liberal and conservative Americans want a low-carbon fuel America – but for different reasons:
https://www.salon.com/2020/05/10/both-conservatives-and-liberals-want-a-green-energy-future-but-for-different-reasons_partner/
This is a set of large surveys that are broken down really well. It's a hopeful sign of collective American intelligence.
Hopefully that base level of agreement is acted upon.
Good find. The conclusion aligns with my broad thesis that in general we should assume that both the conservative and progressive sectors of society want similar outcomes, but weight differing priorities on how to get there. Understanding your 'opponents' value drivers is key to negotiating strategies you can both agree on:
It's plain as day that the media want National back in power so certain personalities can get those sweet sweet tax cuts.
While state house tenants get the boot, and supermarket workers get a 10 year wage freeze
Millsy,
"Plain as day"? What's your evidence? In fact what is your evidence for any of your three assertions? They are just your prejudices.
To me it is "plain as day" that National will not be offering a generalised tax cut. I also presume you specifically mean the 33% rate, which I imagine you think is the only rate of concern to your "certain personalities."
Wayne, it’s as ‘plain as day’ that the Natz cure for the pandemic is – tax cuts, more roads and getting tough on gangs, while their cure for the economic woes is – wash your hands and keep your distance.
Put another way, the Natz have no fucking clue!
TV , Natz also want a regulation bonfire!!!
On the recovery plan, I have no doubt that National would do a better job than Labour. My evidence is the GFC and the Christchurch earthquake, though I don't imagine you would agree on that.
The PM has shown herself to be brilliant during the covid emergency, just as she has done in the other emergencies faced by this government. However, the overall management of the economy has been nothing to write home about, with a few well publicised failures, including Kiwibuild, and the transport programmes.
The government will need to show a new found ability to deal with the recovery to change that. Maybe they will. The budget being the first test.
'My evidence is the GFC and the Christchurch earthquake, though I don't imagine you would agree on that'
But Wayne the two big superstars that 'guided' us through those events are long gone and…knighted.
How deep do you think Nationals talent pool is.
Simon Bridges is supposedly their best!
Agree.
GFC ?
labour in Australia did a better job…national prolonged it until 2015 and were relying on the migration surge
Christchurch Earthquakes ? They made sure on both CERR and CERA acts that judicial reviews or appeals were severely limited . Not to save lives as that was long after the events and plenty of time to carefully consider the legislation wording.
Really.
It took an earthquake stimulus, a 20% increase in population, a lot of short term overly extractive industry, and a lot of book cooking, to give the illusion of economic competency.
By the right wings favourite measure, economic growth, the effect of National was otherwise negative.
Even after only two years this Government was doing better, by almost all measures than National did, in nine years.
There was a degree of competence in some previous National Governments, though mostly manifested in making asset strippers, financiers and speculators richer. Admittedly also a feature of at least one, Labour Government.
Don’t see any in the current crop. Their main capability seems to be in barking at passing cars.
Which transport programmes?
Transmission Gully?
Planes and cruise ships freighting millions of tourists.
Silence noted.
National did such a sterling job with the Christchurch earthquakes, Gerry Brownlee has a park bench dedicated to him. The plaque on it is somewhat unflattering, but not everyone has their own park bench. I'm sure Gerry's chuffed.
Other people have said it but I'll contribute my mite:
Thanks to Michael Cullen, the Natz went into the GFC with a full piggy bank, which they proceeded to squander on tax cits to their rich mates.
Ask anyone in ChCh how the Natz handed the earthquake rebuild!
I repeat, the Natz have no fucking clue.
I'm trying to get my head around your rationale of National doing a better job in post Covid times than Labour on the evidence of the GFC and the Christchurch earthquake situations.
Did National do better than Labour in getting things going after GFC and the earthquakes? They should have, since they were in government.
Were they experienced in 'post catastrophe' mode or did they just learn on the job? And do it totally brilliantly? And because of how they did (the they from back then) no-one else would be as good as them in 2020, 2021 no-one else can do it as well?
There are some who think that the National Government of the day deserve a rating of 12 out of 10 for the way they handled the GFC and the Christchurch earthquake situations. They think the chance of the coalition Government deserving as high as 2 out of 10 for handling post Covid things is impossible.
Just how many of the GFC and Christchurch earthquake Ministers from National do you expect to be in Parliament after September this year?
As someone living in Christchurch then and now, National started well, but the follow-up overpromised and underdelivered.
Oh come on. You and I both know that National will impost a raft of huge austerity measures along with a bonfire of regulations if/when they get in. There will be a huge wall of red in to deal with, and as always, your party will send the bill to the poor, sick and retirees, just like Ruth Richardson did back in 1991.
National have in 30 short years, gone from (at best) acceptance that the state (even if has been devolved to community level) needs to do thing, to a whole generation of National MP's and members dedicated to Somalian levels of state sector involvement and regulatory oversight.
Bill English who people have forgotten could and would have easily have been PM during this time, makes his hatred of anything government run well known, even at community level. He even said that water shouldnt be run by councils.
If National were in power we will be at the mercy of the profit run private sector, the middle class prejudices of the church and charity sector and the nepotism of the iwi sector when it comes to accessing social services.
Am sure gutting what remains of employment law will be near the top of the list.
It this simple, 5 in my son's flat, 4 of them have lost their job, gone, not coming back.
3 of them got a months wages, that's it.
What future taxes? they will be on the job seeker or dole, expensive to the Govt, not productive.
Dunno if you heard, but there's a,worldwide pandemic, the whole world is in some kind of economic meltdown.
Lol this guy's a bit like our Bob Jones, but a reasonable and contributing member of society:
Aussie Nobel laureate immunologist Peter Doherty. He also thinks a vaccine might be mass-distributed in September, giving a rundown of where a number of projects are at. Which would make the herd immunity crowd close to looking like a bunch of Kodos-es.
Let us know when you or those scientists and economists have any data from the future.
No one has , thats why we have widely varying predictions, 95% of little value.
But from your own logic 5% of them are. The trick is in telling which ones. 🙂
Well, I thought a bit of relative optimism from someone at the top of the specific field was interesting and something other than chronically depressing.
And the rest of the interview has some good bits. Such a shame I just reached the paywall read limit.
Paywall ? ..just turn off javascript mostly works for lots of sites, except NZH here
"
There is also the prophylactic way ,where you can pop a pill ( which is the cheapest option, no need for injections). That is what they did for HIV as they have no vaccine, but isnt spread by sneezes either.
thanks for javascript tip. I keep forgetting.
The thing that really gets me about the "elimination if futile" crowd is that buying time is better than just outright surrender. The longer we keep it out, if we can, gives us time to do things better. Things that will save lives when we finally feel the full force of covid.
At worst, delaying it also means that the people whose lives are eventually taken still had weeks or months or years alive that they wouldn't have had if we'd followed the "herd immunity" plan.
Herd immunity is a myth for lots of reasons, I see that some people think it gives them personal immunity, when its a population thats protected from widespread infections. Local clusters will still occur, started in places like schools, workplaces, extended family, social gatherings , funerals etc.
In other words still leaves those 65% who dont have anti bodies ( suggested for Sars-CoV-2, maybe different) still as exposed.
New York may be at 12-15% level of population with anti bodies ( who really knows) , do they want to wait till 35% , does any country ?
New York doesnt really have any good choices left , neither does Sweden, while Greece with a similar population and the opposite Covid response does.
I mean, it's not really wrong.
It's just that getting it without a vaccine means a large number of dead people, regardless of the low percentage of deaths. Percentages always sound lower than the number of coffins they represent.
My parents remember well how "herd immunity" for Polio, worked.
A ridgy-didge Queenslander.
( alt link http://archive.li/nWUHm )
cheers for the alt link
Now that was fantastic Joe
I like the cut of that man's jib
Sharon Zoellner the ANZ chief economist is currently on Nine to Noon. Any guesses how long it takes her to bring up her pet subject of increasing the super age?
Bankers always want to privatise super.
After all it is a huge cash cow for them.
In reality, like most privatisations, not so good for the people relying on it for retirement.
I am sick of the bleating from the opposition. Unfortunately there is going to be a lot more bleating after 4 pm today.
From day one the dilemma Covid -19 posed was saving lives or saving the economy. This is so hard to do as social distancing is what saves lives and many businesses cannot social distance.
There is no more normal, people will need to adapt and tough decisions will need to be made.
It was never really the question.
The economy was going to be in recession, regardless. Despite some delusional claims.
In fact, evidence from past pandemics, and from elsewhere in this one, shows that dealing quickly and effectively with the disease, has better economic outcomes also.
The USA, s tardiness and lack of co-ordination is costing them dearly in lives and the coming recession.
This may be a good time to actually start a business.
The risk of losing capital may turn out quite low.
Rent holidays,tax breaks and subsidies in a brave new world of free…enterprise.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/300009163/coronavirus-100k-spent-on-new-business-due-to-open-during-lockdown
Well well..well
NZ Herald owner NZME has today sought urgent Government help to allow it to buy rival publisher Stuff within three weeks, saying it is the best owner to save newspapers and jobs.
It has filed an urgent Commerce Commission application today for the purchase – for $1 – and wants to have the transaction complete by May 31.
In my view , let Stuff sink . The whole model of a major media octopus is so far out of date …support the smaller operators who are more agile and connected to their readers …ODT, Spinoff, Newsroom etc.
Why pay NZH for things they just syndicate from RNZ, Newsroom, Ny Times , The Conversation when I can go to those places and many others instead of wading through the total dross of NZH, the worst paper in Australasia
NZ Herald owner NZME has today sought urgent Government help to allow it to buy rival publisher Stuff within three weeks,'…or else!
Elections are looming …wonder what Simon says…pro or con.
[Changed font back to normal – Incognito]
National should pay for their own propaganda.
Out of allowed election funding.
NZME getting ahead of themselves…
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/416331/nzme-makes-offer-to-buy-rival-stuff-for-1
Classic ambush tactics. The longer term media industry package being discussed looks like it may not be to their liking. So when we have a really busy government they go "me me me now now now". Funny how the RW seems to have given up funding this media.
That will be awesome, then our 'local' papers will be even more reflective of our community./sarc
Has anyone provided evidence that the memo went to Ministers directly rather than their offices, especially their comms managers? That's who controls messaging, not the Minister.
Seems like a convenient blurring for an opposition to make and media to uncritically regurgitate.
From the Tim Watkin article that Denis posted at (1) above:
A senior journalist and political show producer should know the distinction by now. What a prize dunce.
Does seem an odd message and then leaked to Media. (Tova???) Wonder if we ever know who was responsible for it. Not a Dirty Trick was it???
Someone from the right of Labour or Winston First, I'm guessing.
From memory over many years Friday “dumps of information” have been common. Gives the media something to do over the weekend seeing they are so concerned about their employment prospects these days. The general public don’t care which day information is released.
National must take first prize for hypocrisy complaining about this practice.
They are so in a frenzy at the appreciation and respect so many have for Jacinda they are beside themselves like toddlers having a tantrum.
They used to happen on the Friday before a holiday or at the beginning of a recess period. Parliament is sitting tomorrow so apart from this occurring on a Friday it does not apply.
What the media hate a document dump that isnt given to them for exclusives first
This one went online to EVERYONE.
This would have provided in normal times a month worth of 'reveals', this why they really are kicking
Apart from this one memo , which stuff doesn't even seem to reproduce in full just "interpreted", was there nothing else of interest in those documents? That's it? Just that? Nothing else of substance the media needed to bring to our attention?
If so then it looks like the govt has been pretty transparent on the way through if we are only getting this bit of "gotcha". And then the media wonders why we are not impressed with them or their sense of proportion.
BTW I don't remember similar data dumps about the Canty earthquake response.
Wonderful moving tributes to our PM on Facebook. It was heartening to see not everyone is bitter and twisted as the opposition and many media types.
I have been impressed with the two women journalists who front the 1pm press conference. They are not like the shrieking ones in the theatrette. The PM also is very much in charge, which is how it should be. If she wasn’t for sure they would be then saying she wasn’t up to the job.
I see Boris used the PM's analogy of climbing down the mountain. Nice to see that happen.
I'm not sure if this is what either Johnson or Ardern intended by the metaphor, but any climber will tell you getting down off the damned mountain is by far the riskiest part.
That is apparently what she intended, yes.
Those right wingers have no ability to innovate do they? Nice to see that you recognise they live in an arid desert where they have no new ideas so they are forced to grab for the communal ideas originated by others? Boris trying to get some reflected glow off Jacinda is he? Going for the "halo" effect?
Not only the mountain analogy but the Covid-19 Levels (5 not 4) appear to have been hijacked as well. Perhaps Boris would like to borrow our PM as well.
"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery".
I have wondered if we could rent out Jacinda & Ash – they should get top $.
On the oither hand we might need a fire sale to get some income off Simon Bridges
To be fair, we copied the alert levels from Singapore. I don't think anybody minds.
He already borrowed "stay faithful to your bubble" (without irony I may add) & the 5 levels reminds me of Spinal Tap ("normal levels go to 4, but ours go to 5!, one extra, coz we better.". Johnson is getting so much shit because no one quite understands wtf he's on about, "stay alert!" instead of "stay at home".
Depression,economics,banking & Hitler..
'When Hitler came to power, Germany was hopelessly broke. The Treaty of Versailles had imposed crushing reparations on the German people, demanding that Germans repay every nation’s costs of the war. These costs totaled three times the value of all the property in Germany.
Private currency speculators caused the German mark to plummet, precipitating one of the worst runaway inflations in modern times. A wheelbarrow full of 100 billion-mark banknotes could not buy a loaf of bread. The national treasury was empty. Countless homes and farms were lost to speculators and to private (Jewish controlled) banks. Germans lived in hovels. They were starving.
Nothing like this had ever happened before — the total destruction of the national currency, plus the wiping out of people’s savings and businesses. On top of this came a global depression. Germany had no choice but to succumb to debt slavery under international (mainly Jewish) bankers until 1933, when the National Socialists came to power. At that point the German government thwarted the international banking cartels by issuing its own money. World Jewry responded by declaring a global boycott against Germany.
Hitler began a national credit program by devising a plan of public works that included flood control, repair of public buildings and private residences, and construction of new roads, bridges, canals, and port facilities. All these were paid for with money that no longer came from the private international bankers.
The projected cost of these various programs was fixed at one billion units of the national currency. To pay for this, the German government (not the international bankers) issued bills of exchange, called Labor Treasury Certificates. In this way the National Socialists put millions of people to work, and paid them with Treasury Certificates.
Under the National Socialists, Germany’s money wasn’t backed by gold (which was owned by the international bankers). It was essentially a receipt for labor and materials delivered to the government. Hitler said, “For every mark issued, we required the equivalent of a mark’s worth of work done, or goods produced.” The government paid workers in Certificates. Workers spent those Certificates on other goods and services, thus creating more jobs for more people. In this way the German people climbed out of the crushing debt imposed on them by the international bankers.
Within two years, the unemployment problem had been solved, and Germany was back on its feet. It had a solid, stable currency, with no debt, and no inflation, at a time when millions of people in the United States and other Western countries (controlled by international bankers) were still out of work. Within five years, Germany went from the poorest nation in Europe to the richest.-R.W.Pennington
Did you really need to go there with the anti-semitism. Cmon.
The NSDAP government (they never called themselves "Nazi's") also started one of the world's first privatisation programs, to pay for re-armament.
And who is or was this R.W.Pennington you've quoted?
The person who wrote the piece.
If you consider it inaccurate ,you should say why as Duker does regarding reparations.
Hard to dispute the facts of depression,inflation and unemployment at that time and the reality that the Germany economy became the strongest in Europe within a few years.
There is nothing anti-Semitic about reality.
[See. I asked you a pretty straightforward question and you dodged because (it seems) you’re happy to promote anti semitic tosh. The historical take on the German economy may be right enough, but to use that as leverage to promote bile is fucked in the head. And since you wanted to keep the identity of the person you quoted shrouded, and are wholly backing what they wrote, I can only assume you’re an anti-semitic fuck head too. I hope you enjoyed your time having access to this site….bye bye.]
There's a lot of antisemitism in that "nationalvanguard" article written by Rosemary Pennington 19 Aug 2015 though. So much that I won't even link to it – people can google that shit. But you'll hopefully end up on a watch list that gets cross-referenced with firearms license holders.
It even appears to be largely plagiarised, such as the final paragraph. Although the "(controlled by international bankers)" was inserted, it comes from a book published five years previously. Many other parts of the quoted work stipulate just who the author thinks owned the banks, of course.
Now I have to delete my browser history for today.
The conditions of depression at the time are relevant to todays situation.
Whether you are a fan of the present financial system or not,no one can deny the reality of money expansion,interest bearing debt and its implications on society.
Your reply is not even related to what was posted.You will always find what you are looking for if you approach a topic with extreme prejudice.
You will end up on the watchlist now too,given you visited the site.
Yeah I will. But I don't think I'll raise too many other flags.
relevance? I was replying to your last line.
QFT.
But also, your source is a plagiarist. The economic bullshit you copypasted I addressed elsewhere. Comment 17.3.1.1 was about the WS~adjacent plagiarist you used as an unlinked source.
My last line is accurate.
In case you are not aware, there was instability in Europe after and even prior to the Wall St Crash and the onset of the Great Depression.
France had occupied parts of Germany to enforce compensation and unemployment was rising.
The geo politics of post war Europe were extremely volatile with the new Communist Russia looking to consolidate its power as well as ongoing Franco/German tensions.
Hitlers rise to power was a direct result of the German ECONOMY being in ruins.
Who/what caused the crash,the Great Depression?
Your last line about me being on the watchlist now, too? Yeah, thanks for that. But I suspect you read sites like that much more than I do.
What caused the Great Depression? Capitalism. Marx explained its faults without resorting to antisemitism, a feat your plagiarist couldn't manage.
Marx!.Isn't he a Commie?Is he reliable?How do we know what sources to trust?
I guess your 'plagiarist' managed to get published.
Amazing that you believe in having watchlists for political dissent.Can't think of much that is more anti freedom,anti democracy than that.
I think you read way too many propaganda sites.
you've lost the plot.
He may or may not have lost the plot, but he's gone McFlock. I was away for most of today and have only just come back to this sub-thread. Seems you had a joyous afternoon reading up on scum.
helluva rabbit hole, that one.
Is this source more palatable.?
https://positivemoney.org/2016/01/qe-for-people-in-germany-moving-beyond-weimar-a-history-of-qe-for-people-part-6/
Well, it's light on antisemitism and actually attributes other people's work, so yes it is "more palatable".
It's still complete bollocks. Without occupying it's neighbours, the Reich's balance of payments and currency issues would have taken it back to depression. It's like saying they maxed out their credit card but it was a brilliant plan because they robbed a bank to make the payments just before the bailiffs came around.
Hmmm who is more credible ..McFlock or Henry Liu?
Hey, I can pay for all sorts of shit with gold stolen from other people. That doesn't make me a good financial manager.
You manage to continually miss the point.
As an establishment droogue who believes in the American Dream, you equate any mention of Hitler with anti Semitism.
The certificates as fiat currency that the Nazis issued are a relevant comparison with what sovereign govts do when they create 'money and spend it back into the local economy.
The only one who has 'lost the plot' is you, because you seem to consider any constructive critique of German economic policy in the 30's as deserving one being put on a fucking …watchlist!
The primary public works revolved around preparing for war, and the stolen resources kept the economy from going full Weimar.
Every time Germany took over a country, that area's gold reserves in international holdings were transferred to the Nazi economy, and whatever they could physically get their hands on, they stole. Starting with Austria. Continued with the assistance of the Bank of international settlement.
problems when the very first part is incorrect…I always assume the rests of it mostly nonsense
" Treaty of Versailles had imposed crushing reparations on the German people, demanding that Germans repay every nation’s costs of the war."
They werent crushing, they were made to look that way for political reasons, and the end result was very little . The context for France was the 1871 war when Prussian troops remained in occupation till the reparations were paid in full.
Every nationals costs of the war, just isnt true Britain got nothing. And for France and Belgium the costs were for their own reconstruction as the war in that front was mostly fought on their territory, Germany had barely a scratch. The costs in lives and munitions wasnt factored in nor was destruction in eastern, Italian front etc.
As Germany paid very little , as designed, the reconstruction costs were carried by France and Belgium anyway, who also had to maintain a large standing army and construct major defensive fortifications ( Maginot line).
The continuing story of poor old Germany and the nasty Versailles treaty is just the standard german revisionism that they werent responsible for the war.
Since Germany didnt pay a high price they were at it again 20 yrs later, and real answer to divide the country was taken. After the Armistice in 1918 Germany should have been divided North from South. The Southern Bavarian-Austrian state along with the neighbouring german kingdoms would have catholic, linguistic conservative traditions. While the Northern state would have been protestant, liberal/socialist traditions. A NSDP run Greater Bavaria would have been no threat to France or Poland
'In short, during the 1920s a financial merry-go-round was in operation. US bankers lent money to Germany. The German government used that money to pay reparations to Britain and France. The British and French used that money to repay their war loans to the US bankers. The US banks made huge profits, and lent even more money to Germany. Everything was going well, until the bubble burst.
Hitler didn't only cancel reparations payments. He also defaulted on Germany's debts to US (and, to a lesser extent, British) banks. After the Second World War, the new democratic German government accepted responsibility for the roughly 16 billion marks of debt still owed to foreign banks (plus additional debts incurred after 1945) – although in 1953 it was agreed by Germany's creditors to halve the total amount to be repaid, and furthermore the full sum would not become due until after German reunification.
When Germany did reunify in 1990, the German government thus recommenced making payments. The last one, €70 million, was paid in 2010 and thus cleared Germany's outstanding debt from the war.
However, these payments were not reparations; they didn't go to the victims of the war. They went to the banks which had lent money to Weimar Germany in the 1920s. Newspaper reports which refer to the payments made since 1931 as 'reparations' are using the term inaccurately.'-Quora…
Did the gold fillings help in the end, at all?
[Maybe you would like to join Blazer so that you can cheer them up with your ‘witty’ one-liners? – Incognito]
See my Moderation note @ 5:51 PM.
Mark Richardson and Duncan Garner admit they don't have much purpose.
Seven to eight weeks worrying? Tens of thousands of NZ families and hundreds of thousands of people live this reality every single day of every single week of every single year. Permanently, in fact.
How nice of Mark Richardson to finally recognise how detrimental to life low-level anxiety can be for the vulnerable and under-privileged.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2020/05/don-t-have-much-purpose-duncan-garner-and-mark-richardson-s-emotional-revelations-on-mental-health-struggles.html
The burden of having all that wealth and power must weigh heavily on Richardson and Garner.
What we really need in these trying times of crisis, especially if you've just been made redundant, is to hear windbag television personalities crapping on about their anxiety. Those poor dabs. I don't know how they cope.
Ship B Golgafrinchans epiphanise.
Can someone please explain what this is about? A short version of the history and state of play would be good.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/300009341/stuff-owner-says-talks-with-nzme-terminated-last-week
Sounds very conflicted. Perhaps the news media could investigate themselves to see if anyone is telling porkies?
Ahhh ..heres the answer
"NZME shares rose 17 per cent to 25 cents on the NZX in the wake of NZME's announcement, [but later] despite Nine's statement that talks had been terminated."
Interesting – hope the stock exchange is watching the trades.
BTW do you know if the stock exchange has required companies to file notifications of the wage subsidies they have applied for/received plus (if I had my say) an updated table of wage & salary distribution with $ values so we can see how much to trim those top wages.
There appear to be several lines of thinking nationally on when to move from level 3. The majority of comments from readers on Stuff relating to epidemiologist Michael Baker are rather vitriolic and dismissive, and suggest conspiracies of various degrees. I wonder if those correspondents were offered the option to sign a waiver whereby they would not request any intervention/treatment in the event of their catching the virus, they would still be so strident in their views.
No. No, they wouldn't. But life is hard when you can't get your tips frosted, get rolling drunk with your homies, or go to the mall with Stephanie and Monique.
Great interview, but sad to think that the centrists in the UK Labour party ( like in all "left" parties in the western world) would rather live under a right wing party than give a real progressive like Corbyn a chance…disgusting really, although I guess it has exposed how devoid of a moral or ethical centre the Liberal so called 'left' are.
Jeremy Corbyn in conversation with Dr Bob Gill about NHS privatisation and COVID-19 pandemic
It wasn't the centrists in Labour that did Corbyn in, it was the voters in the 2019 election. They had a clear choice and they voted Boris.
FIFY
Do you believe that most voters were aware of and understood all of the skullduggery and undermining that went on from within Corbyn's party? And that if they did the result would've been the same?
"Peters’ support for Morrison’s call has bewildered Beijing. Canberra’s shadowing of Washington’s diplomatic sallies is expected by the Chinese. They don’t like it (and have made their displeasure very plain) but they are not surprised by it. Peters’ behaviour, on the other hand, has left them perplexed. Is he acting with the full knowledge and blessing of his Prime Minister? If so, then Jacinda Ardern is deliberating putting at risk the mutually respectful and highly beneficial relationship that has evolved between Beijing and Wellington over the course of nearly half a century. If not, then what the hell is going on inside the New Zealand Government?"
https://www.interest.co.nz/opinion/104938/chris-trotter-muses-whether-covid-19-crisis-ushering-major-shift-new-zealand-foreign
Winston running his own foreign policy?
I'm confident Beijing will be very au fait with Winstons political posturing and history and will not be concerned about it.
"Winston running his own foreign policy?"
Coalition agreement …says inter alia NZ First can have their own public position that is different for the Governments ( which would be labour)
the election is closer than you think..4 months
Love this guy – Chris Smalls now organising more workers.
It's just occurred to me with all these White House aides getting the 'rona – we might see an Acting President Pelosi after all!
There's no mechanism for temporary fill-ins for prez and veep to be chosen on the fly, it's specified by statute. So if the Kumquat Pol Pot catches it and becomes incapacitated, and passes the preznitsy on to
the over-boiled cauliflowerPence by the 25th Amendment, then Pence is in turn incapacitated, it has to go to the Speaker of the House Pelosi.It's a lovely thought, innit?
One of my happier Monday afternoon fantasies.
Cooperation works.
Forty years ago, the world celebrated the vanquishing of a formidable foe, smallpox, which had maimed and killed millions for centuries. On May 8, 1980, the World Health Organization declared that smallpox had been eradicated.
That milestone, reached while the Cold War still raged, is an example of what the public health world can achieve when it works together — and is particularly resonant in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. The campaign against smallpox took 21 years and required not just vaccinations but tracking and isolating new cases.
“We learned a lot of lessons in smallpox, but one of them is the absolute necessity of coalitions,” William “Bill” Foege, one of the architects of the smallpox eradication program, told STAT.
[…]
Though there is currently no vaccine to prevent Covid-19 infection, the surveillance and containment approach, as it is called, forms the basis of the recommended strategy to contain the new disease. Test to find cases. Identify everyone they’ve been in contact with. Isolate the sick and quarantine the contacts while they might be incubating the disease.
“You hear with coronavirus about contact tracing and how difficult that is. That’s what we were doing with smallpox,” Foege said, noting back then the work was done without computers or cellphones.
In May of 1974, in a single state in India, 1,500 smallpox cases were being identified every day. “And every one of those cases involved a new investigation. So 1,500 investigations a day,” Foege said. “I’m surprised now, with all of our communications and things, that people think tracing Covid-19 is too difficult.”
Within a year of using this containment approach, transmission in the state, Bihar, stopped, Foege said.
Foege, who is a legend in global health circles, called the idea of defunding the WHO “illogical.” He warned the United States risks isolation on the global health stage if it pursues this approach.
https://www.statnews.com/2020/05/08/what-the-world-learned-in-eradicating-smallpox-unity-mattered/
Heh. Marmalardo gives a graduation address …
https://twitter.com/nbcsnl/status/1259326250176385036
Listening to the PM's press conference, hearing her repeating "kiwis will be spaced out" and "we will all be spaced out" in the plan for level two social situations, took me way back. Half a century ago, I was frequently in social gatherings where all were spaced out. I bet plenty of other listeners went into the same time warp! Disappointing to hear nothing about retaining mask-wearing as precaution though. 😷
Doesn't surprise me in the least. You're coping well, considering.
So far so good. If another decade comes my way, I may even start to suspect that my time of testing may produce a verdict of success. I appreciate your verdict for now!
Mr Trump's style of leadership is reaping as it sows.
I guess when you're on the big money it's best to just trot along behind the blustering buffoon and bite your "You're making a capital dick of yourself right now Don" tongue.
"Mr President, please don't step outside, you're nude."
" No I'm not."
Our supermarket duopoly have paid for their kids' Harvard educations over the last month. Bribes inclusive. Every food $ we used to spend elsewhere has pretty much gone to one of two companies.
They should be telling every staff member "You have all worked harder than you're paid for. Under conditions you aren't paid for. Your pay under Alert level 4 and 3 will be doubled."
I think it's the least they could do, those guys have made millions on millions in the last month. Oh how I longed for KFC we all chucked those $ down Countdown's throat.